EPA provides update on cleanup work at old mill site
An official with the Environmental Protection Agency recently gave Lincoln County officials an update on continued efforts to clean up the Libby Groundwater Superfund site.
Andrew Schmidt, Remedial Project Manager, was at the Oct. 26 county commissioners meeting to talk about what the EPA has been up to and its plans for cleanup work on the area on the east side of Libby, which includes the former Champion mill site.
The unit is managed by the Lincoln Port Authority and Kootenai River Development Council and also has other landowners. The former lumber and plywood mill where soil and groundwater was contaminated due to the wood treating operations that occurred at the time.
According to the EPA, the contamination is not due to asbestos, but came from various chemicals, including creosote and PCP (pentachlorophenol), benzene and arsenic, that were used at the mill between 1946 and 1969. Spills and disposal practices at the site contaminated soil and groundwater with hazardous chemicals that leached through the soil and into groundwater over time.
In 1979, the EPA discovered PCP contamination in well water at a nearby residence. The site, one of 18 in Montana, was listed on the agency’s National Priority List on Sept. 8, 1983.
“Soil cleanup is nearly complete and we’re planning on a new remedial approach for shallow groundwater,” Schmidt said. “We are trying to establish new protections to ensure no one is exposed to contaminated groundwater.”
Schmidt said the estimated cleanup time is about 40 years with a price tag of $7 million.
Commissioner Brent Teske asked who would be paying the substantial bill and Schmidt said International Paper would pay all costs for work on the property.
Schmidt explained that the plan to clean up the Upper Aquifer would include what is called in-situ biosparging.
In laymen’s terms, it is a remediation technology that uses microorganisms to break down pollutants in the ground.
“If we provide microorganisms more oxygen, it can really accelerate the breakdown of creosote,” Schmidt said.
The plan calls design work in both areas to be done this fall with construction beginning in the Spring of 2023.
Part of the project includes a proposed Controlled Groundwater Area (CGA).
“We want to make sure if someone places a well outside of the control area, they don’t accidentally pull contaminants into a well,” Schmidt said.
Schmidt also said testing has indicated no contaminated water is entering the Kootenai River.
The agency is also proposing restrictions that include no new wells, other than those the EPA would install for its work, within the CGA while notices would be placed on properties outside city limits, but within the CGA so future property buyers know about the restrictions.
In addition, the “Buy Well Program” put in place by Champion International Paper in the 1980s, would be expanded.
It’s provisions include:
- For property owners not hooked up to city water, IP would offer to connect them;
- For those who have a well, IP would offer to plug and abandon the well and;
- For those whose well was their primary water supply, or if the well was used for irrigation purposes, IP would offer financial compensation to offset the cost of using city water.
Teske pointed out to EPA and IP officials that in the city’s construction and design standards, those living outside city limits who hook up to city services such as water, the property could be annexed into the city.
“It can be waived, but it’s something everyone should know,” Teske said.
But Schmidt said these efforts are on hold until IP and the city reach an agreement.
For more information or any questions, Schmidt can be reached at 303-829-3273 or Schmidt.andrew@epa.gov.
Also, International Paper Program Manager Tom Richardson may be reached at 901-419-3878 or tom.Richardson@ipaper.com.
Jason Rappe, state project manager for the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, is also involved in the cleanup work. He may be reached at 406-444-6802 or Jason.rappe@mt.gov.