EPA, DEQ settle on funding deal for Superfund site

Long-awaited federal dollars will soon be available to state and local officials for the continued maintenance of the Libby Superfund site.

Nearly three months have passed since oversight of commercial and residential properties in Libby and Troy transferred from the EPA to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. The funding from the EPA needed by the state agency to maintain these properties should now be accessible within a matter of days, according to Jenny Chambers, administrator of the waste management and remediation division of the DEQ.

Chambers made the announcement during a Sept. 24 meeting of the Libby Asbestos Superfund Oversight Committee. While EPA officials have awarded the funds linked to their cooperative agreement with the DEQ, Chambers said DEQ staff would have to wait until this week before they could access the funds due to a five-day congressional hold.

Once the DEQ receives its funding, Chambers said state and Lincoln County officials would be able to sign off on an agreement that would provide dollars to county maintenance programs.

“Well that’s good news,” said County Commissioner and LASOC Chair Mark Peck (D-1) during the meeting. “We don’t get much of that in 2020.”

The delay in federal funds has frustrated Peck and the other members of the Libby oversight committee for months. Without the dollars, local property owners are forced to bid and pay for contractors to conduct asbestos sampling and abatements. While most can expect reimbursement, Virginia Kocieda, director of the county Asbestos Resource Program, said the lack of financial aid has put undue stress on residents.

“Not many property owners can afford abatement contractors out of pocket,” she said.

Due to the holdup in federal funding, the county has had to directly support the ARP — a critical organization that assists property owners conducting asbestos abatements. Peck said he hoped the deal between the DEQ and the EPA would reimburse the county for the funds it has put into the program.

During the Libby oversight committee meeting, Jason Rappe, DEQ project officer, said ARP officials have continued responding to calls from property owners. Currently, Rappe said the organization is working with six property owners who are at various stages of sampling and abatement. These projects are expected to range from $1,330 to up to $30,000, according to a summary of costs document reviewed at the meeting.

Already, the ARP has seen three residents complete asbestos testing on their properties, according to the document. Two of the owners are asking to be reimbursed for $2,130 they each spent to hire an accredited inspector. One would like to be refunded for a $1,060 sampling project.

Libby oversight committee members voted on a recommendation to DEQ officials that they reimburse property owner expenditures as outlined in the summary of costs document.

“It’s not the intent here certainly to seek DEQ response or approval today or to dwell on the details but rather to provide enough information on which to base a recommendation to DEQ,” said George Jameson, the committee member.

Shaun McGrath, DEQ director and committee member, abstained from the vote. While he expressed support of the recommendation, McGrath said department officials would have to review more details before committing to the reimbursement.

After minor technical corrections, the rest of the committee members voted unanimously to approve the recommendation.

“This is the first real on the ground [action] that we put in the process,” Peck said congratulating committee members after the vote.

Committee members also mulled over how they could streamline the reimbursement process for property owners. Though no action was taken, the group planned to revisit the topic in an upcoming meeting after reviewing bylaws.

The committee members did not set a firm date for their next meeting but anticipated holding it no later than the first week of December.