EPA hosting meeting on Superfund cleanup work

The Environmental Protection Agency is hosting a meeting next week to discuss the results of its latest review at the Libby Superfund Site, but local officials are concerned about the possibility of premature delistings of some sites and continued human health concerns in south Lincoln County.

The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 15, in the Ponderosa Room at Libby City Hall.

For those who can’t attend, there is a virtual option listed below.

Members of the Libby Asbestos Superfund Oversight Committee (LASOC), in light of new findings, sent a letter, dated June 27, to the EPA’s Region 8 office in Denver explaining why they felt human health concerns and the protection of people from the effects of Libby Amphibole still needed to be taken into consideration before any decisions are made in the five-year review about protectiveness.

Lincoln County Commissioner Brent Teske, the LASOC chairman, signed the letter on behalf of committee members Sen. Mike Cuffe, Rep. Tom Millett and George Jamison, the citizen member of the group.

The LASOC committee believes the cleanup work was based on material that is now outdated.

“We are fully cognizant of the effort (funds and time) it will take to fully reexamine the more recent science, and to carry that forward with an updated risk assessment for both human health and the environment,” the letter read. “To ignore this need is not protective and would be directly contradictory to the purpose of the FYR (five year review). It should be expected that the body of knowledge regarding LA is growing and will continue. Long term planning for this site (hindsight now) was deficient in not recognizing this inevitable reality and making detailed provisions to address it with resources. That lack of foresight does not erase or diminish the need.”

Committee members said they would be supportive of the EPA in funding efforts, whether from public funds, site remediation funds or potentially responsible persons.

Finally, the LASOC committee’s missive to the EPA stated, “It would be nice for everything to be done, and finished, at least for the OUs where remediation was conducted. But that is not the reality. Complacency and “fatigue” now are no excuse for failing to do what is right. As representatives of the communities here in Lincoln County, we must be diligent and remind EPA (and ourselves) that our guiding principle must be protection of human health and the environment. That confidence is now in question, and we need to be on a course to address it, not ignore it.”

The members also agree that ongoing protectiveness to human health and the environment can’t be determined until more information is obtained. Finally, the group believes new information calls into question the protectiveness of the work that has been done.

Some of that new information comes from a researcher at Montana State University.

Dr. Jean C. Pfau is a immunotoxicologist who has worked for more than 20 years on the health effects of amphibole asbestos, particularly Libby Asbestos.

Pfau wrote the EPA in November 2024 and shared her findings that she believes should be considered by the agency in terms of its decision to delist OU4 (Libby residential) and OU7 (Troy residential).

According to the EPA, Libby and Troy were listed in June 2020 as “remediated.”

“Because the risk of autoimmune and autoinflammatory disease was not considered in the 2015 Site-Wide Human Health Risk Assessment which established the basis for the selected remedy and action levels for remediation, it is not possible at this time to determine whether or not the remedy is protective.”

Dr. Pfau’s evidence, screening reports from CARD and ATSDR, included the frequency of autoimmune  disease diagnoses in the Libby and Troy area is nearly triple the expected prevalence in the United States.

She also wrote that the frequency of specific autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus, increased five to 10 times over expected U.S. prevalence values.

In addition, studies have shown over the last five years that lamellar pleural thickening is occurring much more frequently than believed before. Also, screening data shows diagnoses of this disease have not significantly declined in the last five years.

Pfau also reported that other health outcomes must be taken into account, including pulmonary hypertension, coronary artery disease and effects from fibers in the brain.

She also recommended a complete registry of the compiled data that would assist with identifying at risk populations and potentially improve treatment with early diagnosis and monitoring.

Pfau also said in her letter that a comparison must be made between the health of the community before and after remediation.

In addition to a searchable registry of data, by exposure, dates and health outcomes, she said the screening program should be expanded to include people who arrived in Libby after the remediation.

Other topics of discussion will be the status of the former mine area (OU3), status of operation and maintenance at cleaned operating units and wildfire preparedness.

The story of the pollution began more than 140 years ago when gold miners discovered vermiculite in Libby in 1881. In the 1920s, the Zonolite Company formed and began mining the vermiculite in a large, surface mine located about five miles northeast of Libby. 

In 1963, W.R. Grace bought the Zonolite mining operations. The mine closed in 1990. While in operation, the Libby mine (OU3) produced up to 80% of the world's supply of vermiculite. Vermiculite has been used in building insulation and as a soil conditioner. The vermiculite from the Libby mine was contaminated with a toxic and highly friable form of asbestos called Libby Amphibole (LA) asbestos. 

Historic mining, milling and processing of vermiculite at the Site are known to have caused releases of vermiculite and LA to the environment, the city of Libby and the city of Troy. In addition, vermiculite products and wastes containing LA were used in thousands of homes, businesses and public buildings across the Site. Vermiculite insulation, both commercially purchased and obtained otherwise, was used at a high rate in Libby buildings.

The virtual option for next Tuesday’s meeting is at https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%3Ameeting_MDA5ZmY0YzUtNmQ1My00MzA5LWFhYWItZDM0YjE2M2E2NGY3%40thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257b%2522Tid%2522%253a%252288b378b3-6748-4867-acf9-76aacbeca6a7%2522%252c%2522Oid%2522%253a%25225bc08aac-41f4-44b5-9105-7c2a5b88e894%2522%257d%26anon%3Dtrue&type=meetup-join&deeplinkId=100918e1-da27-4aa2-a2d3-7414ff4c9c80&directDl=true&msLaunch=true&enableMobilePage=true&suppressPrompt=true. 

The meeting ID is 283 091 658 201 9, and the passcode is ke7DK77r.