EPA hosting vermiculite meeting June 6 in Libby

The Environmental Protection Agency is hosting a public meeting Tuesday, June 6 with partner agencies to give an update about the former vermiculite mine, also known as Operable Unit 3.

The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. in the Ponderosa Room, Lincoln County Emergency Management, 952 E. Spruce St. 205, Libby.

The EPA, Lincoln County, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and the U.S. Forest Service will provide an update about progress at OU3, status of the tailings dam and fire preparedness at the former vermiculite mine.

W.R Grace will give an update on construction of the spillway for the Kootenai Development Impoundment Dam.

For those choosing to participate online, they can join via:

Microsoft Teams meeting ID: 249 422 558 516, Passcode: GZ4FiT or call +1 406-247-0520, Conference ID: 142 089 607#.

In December 2014, EPA completed a scientific review of toxicity values and finalized a risk assessment a year later. The final risk assessment confirmed that EPA’s indoor and outdoor cleanups have effectively managed risk from exposure to asbestos.

As of November 2018, EPA had completed cleanup of over 2,600 properties located within Libby and Troy and had investigated over 7,600 properties within the Superfund site. This means that EPA has removed more than one million cubic yards of contaminated soil. Contaminated soils are disposed of at the former vermiculite mine. Contaminated construction debris is placed in a specially designed landfill cell.

Cleanup is complete at all schools and parks, residential and commercial areas, the former vermiculite processing plants and other contaminated public areas.

Other site cleanup is being addressed through federal, state and potentially responsible party (PRP) actions.