EPA stresses importance of cleanup participation

With the announcement of the toxicity values and human health risk assessment for the Libby Superfund site, the Environmental Protection Agency has declared that cleanup operations to date have been effective and sufficient to protect people from harmful levels of exposure to asbestos.

The report also shows that properties and areas that have not been cleaned by the agency still pose a risk of adverse health impacts.

According to the reports issued earlier this week, the inhalation of 90 fibers of Libby amphibole asbestos per cubic meter of air is safe for humans. According to Rebecca Thomas, EPA’s project manager for Libby, all properties cleaned after 2006 meet this standard of exposure.

According to EPA senior toxicologist Dr. Deborah McKean, “the data clearly show that participation in the cleanup program is protective.”

Thomas said there are roughly 1,000 properties that were cleaned prior to 2006 that still require additional investigation. “The problem,” she said, “isn’t with the cleanup. It’s with the sampling we used back then.”

After 2006, EPA moved to a 30-point sampling method instead of the five-point method used in the past. They have initiated a pilot program in which 30 of the properties cleaned from 1999 until 2006 are being tested using the new sampling criteria, including 10 properties on which vermiculite is still visible. “Remember, not all vermiculite contains asbestos,” said Thomas.

Those samples are currently being analyzed to determine if additional investigation or cleanup measures are required.

Properties that have not been cleaned, however, still show exposure levels greater than the 90 fibers per cubic meter of air. The data, said both Thomas and McKean, highlight the importance of participation in the cleanup program.

Property owners have the final say in whether or not their properties are investigated and cleaned, which raises a serious concern for the agency and the community. There are more than 1,300 properties in and around Libby that have yet to be inspected. Roughly 500 of those are slated for inspection, but according to Thomas they’ve had approximately 600 property owners refuse inspection. Other property owners had asked to wait or were unable to be contacted by the agency.

EPA has been working with state and county officials to encourage participation in the cleanup program. “Those properties could present a public health risk,” Thomas said.

While the agency has legal methods by which they can force a cleanup, Thomas stressed that the preference is for property owners to participate willingly.