Emergency abatement launched after workers uncover contaminated mine tailings

Officials with the Lincoln County Asbestos Resource Program have launched an emergency abatement project after workers uncovered contaminated mine tailings on a Fifth Street property.

Virginia Kocieda, program director, said the tailings were exposed after Ziply Fiber began digging a trench on the lot. Speaking during an April 14 Lincoln County Commissioners meeting, Kocieda said Ziply officials followed the proper procedures before initiating the work by requesting a utility locate of underground facilities.

The request alerted ARP of Ziply’s intent to dig in the area. Officials with the program signed off on the project after checking the investigation records. Those documents indicated the property contained no vermiculite.

But the records were based on an early test conducted by investigators with the Environmental Protection Agency in 2005 or 2007. Kocieda said the initial sampling conducted by the agency was not as effective when compared with later sampling protocols.

After Ziply Fiber encountered the tailings and contacted ARP, investigators with the program visited the site. Testing revealed contaminated material beyond the immediate dig site. To speed up the abatement process, Montana Department of Environmental Quality officials allowed ARP to secure a contractor without going through the routine procedure of soliciting three bids.

ARP will partner with Environmental Restoration, a remediation company with an office in Libby, to abate the tailings. Kocieda said she was waiting for the firm to complete a project out of state before getting to work on the Fifth Street lot. ARP officials received permission from the property owner the day before the meeting to conduct the abatement and were developing a scope of work for the project.

County Commissioner Mark Peck (D-1) said the incident was an indicator that ARP was functioning as designers had intended.

In addition to the emergency abatement, ARP officials were kept busy with 155 informational requests over the past month. Of these, 26 were calls made through ARP’s hotline, the bulk of which originated in Libby. Five of those calls came from Troy. The program received 121 utility locate tickets, more than double the amount seen the month before.

Overall, the ARP performed 33 site visits within Libby and Troy.

Excluding the in-progress emergency abatement, Kocieda said ARP was overseeing one asbestos abatement on Mineral Avenue. The project began in early February or late March and was still ongoing as it involved a multistage process. ARP was looking into a possible investigative sampling project on a property off of state Highway 37.

ARP officials recently reviewed eight subdivision applications. Staff sent letters to the four applicants that fell inside the program’s bounds summarizing investigative details.

Kocieda said she sent 78 realtors an email last month describing the ARP program and notifying them of the requirement to contact ARP when selling properties in Libby and Troy.