Libby Asbestos Cleanup Stalled
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced that a stop work order is being leveled against contractors cleaning up asbestos pollution in Libby, Montana, a town plagued by years of asbestos mining and manufacturing.
According to a story aired by a Billings, Montana CBS affiliate, Air, Soil and Water, a contractor involved in the project, failed to use proper respiratory protection and used river water in their portable pumps.
“These were all very, you know, we thought very serious health and safety problems so, oversight crews as soon as they discovered them, we put a call stop to the game until we get this sorted,” said EPA local team leader Paul Peronard.
Peronard says he hopes work can resume by early next week. In the meantime, the article notes, residents are waiting for news about testing to be done at the former W.R. Grace vermiculite mine, the source of all the contamination.
Peronard says the EPA is starting to finalize some of the smaller areas for cleanup. “We’re going to start working at some of those areas where we’ve done extensive clean-ups, we’ve got a pretty good handle on what’s going on there, were still 2 or 3 years out from getting to final decisions on the larger Libby.”
So far, the EPA has supervised the cleanup of 1,000 residences and businesses. Approximately 150 are slated for this year. In addition, the agency will work to clean up two local creeks also contaminated with asbestos-containing vermiculite.