EPA pushes deadlines back again

The Environmental Protection Agency has once again pushed back the anticipated delivery of a feasibility study and remedial action plan for the Libby Superfund site.

The agency’s project manager for Libby, Rebecca Thomas, told The Western News in January she anticipated having the feasibility study in place by late February or early March and a proposed plan ready for release in April.

In a phone conference Wednesday with Lincoln County commissioners, Thomas amended the timeline, pushing the delivery of the feasibility study back to April or May with the proposed plan to follow in May or June. The delays will push the final remedy decision back to the fall of 2015.

The delays, Thomas said, “won’t adversely impact getting to a remedy in 2015.”

The content of Wednesday’s update call solidified previous impressions of the agency completing active operations in Libby during the next three to five years and placing the site into the operations and maintenance phase, including institutional controls to ensure the long-term protectiveness of the remedy.

Onsite Remedial Program Manager Mike Cirian, who attended the meeting in person, told commissioners there are approximately 1,500 properties yet to be surveyed in Lincoln County. He anticipates roughly half of the property owners will permit agency teams to inspect the properties for asbestos contamination.

Those inspections, or General Property Investigations, are scheduled to begin April 6, with active clean-up operations scheduled for a May 4 beginning this year.

All told, Cirian estimates there are 300 properties in and around Libby requiring clean-up work. With the current rate of 80 to 100 properties per year, the active phase should be completed well within the three-to-five year anticipated time frame.

One issue local government and citizens will need to address as the agency wraps up the active phase of the clean-up is how to address properties on which owners refused to allow inspections and/or cleaning activities.

Without permission, agency inspectors are unable to investigate properties for potential contamination. Those properties could contain asbestos and potentially pose a health hazard to neighbors and others near the property.

To address these concerns, the Environmental Protection Agency will be engaged in a number of public awareness campaigns and outreach efforts as the active clean-up winds down.

Funding the long-term remedy is another area of concern being negotiated between federal and state agencies. Thomas said she anticipates the settlement money recouped from W.R. Grace and Company to last through 2015, but to be depleted prior to the end of active operations in 2016.

“I believe we have enough money to get through 2015 and well into 2016,” Thomas said.

After the settlement money runs out, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality is on the hook for 10 percent of the costs, as well as for the long-term operations and maintenance after the active clean-up is concluded.

The commissioners are watching the negotiations between the state and the federal agency very closely, as Lincoln County lacks the financial resources needed to shoulder this burden once the settlement fund is empty.

The agency will be coming to Libby often during the course of the next several months, including a visit April 8. Thomas said she wants to meet with stakeholders individually and in groups to discuss wrapping up the active phase of operations and seek their input on long-term institutional controls.