Superfund site plans move forward

Representatives from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, Environmental Protection Agency and the Forest Service met with the Mineral County Commissioners again Tuesday to discuss listing the town of Superior, some surrounding land and the Flat Creek Mine Site as a Superfund site.

Representatives from each organization have been visiting with the Superior Town Council and Mineral County Commissioners to discuss the impending cleanup in the past months and they have decided to move forward with the process.

In order for the project to move forward, the site will need a letter from the governor asking for help, but Head MDEQ Richard Opper has already agreed to help fund the site, according to MDEQ representative Sandi Olson.

The Flat Creek Mine Site, which is owned by the bankrupt company ASAR Co., may have dispersed dangerous heavy metals like lead and arsenic throughout the community.

Dianna Hammer, the EPA Community Involvement Coordiator for the site, said that community input is essential to making the project work.

One of the more common ways for materials containing heavy metals to be dispersed throughout the community is through fill dirt. She said that in many instances the only people who know where fill dirt on certain sites came from are those in the community and if those people come forward with their information then the process will be much more effective.

Commissioners Judy Stang said that she was concerned some people in the county would not be interested in having their property cleaned up.

“I think property owners need to understand that, if they have that in their driveways they might not care, but if they ever go to sell their home the person that may buy it might,” he said. “So if they get a chance to get it cleaned up for free, even though it’s kind of a pain, they probably should do it.”

EPA Representative Gwen Christiansen said that people with high enough metal content on their property can have it cleaned up free of charge. She added that testing is a low impact process and the samples are comprehensive and leave no visible property damage.

The commissioners also discussed the possibility of ASAR Co. not taking responsibility for the cleanup of their property.

Olson said that if they ASAR Co. refuses to “play ball” then they can be forced through federal and state law to clean up their property. She added that there will be on-site federal oversight of ASAR Co.’s cleanup to make sure they do the job properly.

During the discussion, the commissioners told representatives that they wanted to see what could be done about removing the mine tailings that were deposited in the county’s airport after an emergency cleanup in 2001 removed contaminated fill dirt from places including the Superior High School Track and the Mineral County Fairgrounds. Stang said that the county nearly lost a $1.6 billion grant from the Federal Aviation Administration for the airport because of the materials had been deposited there.

Christiansen said that while they had not previously included the airport in their plans they would add it into the discussion.

According to Christiansen, they hope to begin the process of making Superior a Superfund Site and starting the cleanup in March of 2009. She also provided the commissioners with a timeline outlining what would need to be done and explaining some of the risks of heavy metal contamination.

According to the documents Christiansen provided, heavy metals can get into the body through touching contaminated soil or even eating vegetables grown in contaminated soil. The documents said that most fertilizers reduce the heavy metal contamination in fruits and vegetables but the EPA would start testing to make sure they were safe to eat.

Lead can affect the development of the nervous system, impair learning ability, hearing and reproductive system and long-term exposure to arsenic can cause skin cancer and digestive track problems, according to the documents.

To avoid ingesting the heavy metal contaminates the EPA suggests washing hands frequently, especially before smoking and after playing with animals, washing children’s outdoor toys, not smoking with dirty hands, washing hands after petting dogs or other animals that play in the dirt, dusting your home and change air conditioner and furnace filters every six months.

Christiansen said that the EPA removed all of the immediate health risks during their initial response in 2001, and the Superfund listing would be to clean up the rest of the contaminates.

“We’re not saying that anyone is at an immediate health risk,” said Christiansen.