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Libby Community Advisory Group

Meeting Summary

December 11, 2003

Introductions

Gerald Mueller and members of the Libby Community Advisory Group (CAG) introduced themselves. A list of the members and visitors in attendance is attached below as Appendix 1.

Agenda

The CAG agreed to the following agenda for this meeting:

EPA Report

Jim Christiansen and Wendy Thomi reported on the following topics on behalf of EPA.

Boat Ramp Cleanup - The cleanup and restoration is finished. As expected, the total cost will be about $300 thousand. The close out report on the cleanup at this site will soon be available at the EPA Information Center.

Audience Member Question - Has the decision been made about how many trees and how much other vegetation will be planted at this site?
Answer - Yes. We have worked with Dan Thede concerning this decision.

Business Cleanups - Two business cleanups have been completed to date. Letters will be sent shortly to another 80 businesses inviting them to an open house at the Venture Inn on January 12, 2004 to explain the cleanup process. At the open house we will explain what EPA can and cannot do in business cleanups, how the businesses are likely to be affected, and that all businesses will be treated the same.

CAG Member Question - Will all businesses get paid to offset the time that they must be closed during the cleanup?
Answer - No. EPA will not compensate businesses for closures during the cleanup, nor will we pay to relocate them temporarily. The funding is not available to do so. We will work with the businesses to schedule the cleanup at the best time for them. We can also take some measures to alleviate the impact of a closure such as installing temporary telephone and fax lines.

Audience Member Question - It is not just the business owners who lose money during the cleanup. Employees also lose wages. Could EPA consider using a double shift of cleanup workers to get the job done twice as fast?
Answer - Using a double shift or hiring more cleanup workers to speed the cleanup would be difficult. We cannot afford the overtime and would have to spend time to train additional workers.

Documents Available
Three documents important for understanding the cleanup work are now available for public review and comment at the EPA Information Center. The three include: the Pre-design Inspection Work Plan which provides the details about the information EPA collects and how they collect it for properties that need cleanup; the Design Analysis Report which covers the supporting details of the response action work plan; and the Response Action Work Plan which describes the residential and commercial cleanup processes and procedures. We will take comments on these documents through January. Even after these documents are finalized, the cleanup processes and procedures may change as we learn from actual cleanup experience and receive comments from the Technical Advisory Group, the CAG, and others. Also, next week, another important document will be available at the EPA Information Center. The Action Level and Clearance Criteria Technical Memo will discuss what triggers cleanup and how clean is clean. Finally, in January, a report summarizing all Libby asbestos air quality data will be released. This report will contain the results of all ambient air sampling and of all air sampling conducted around cleanup sites. The results to date demonstrate that it is safe to breath the air in Libby even next to the cleanup job sites.

CAG Member Question - Do you intend to discuss the air monitoring results in a public meeting?
Answer - I don't plan to at this point.

Meeting with Governor Martz - EPA briefed Governor Martz last week about the ongoing cleanup. She expressed surprise that Troy is included in the cleanup plans, and the press reported her surprise. One article was head-lined, "Libby Cleanup Grows." In fact, the plans to clean Troy are not new. Nothing has changed. We do not yet have sufficient funds to begin the cleanup in Troy, but we will get to it as quickly as possible.

Post Cleanup Sampling - We are beginning post-cleanup sampling to ensure that the houses remain clean after the cleanup has finished under actual living conditions. We will be monitoring a range of post-cleanup conditions, e.g. we will monitor in some houses in which remodeling has occurred, in some in which carpets were and were not replaced, etc. The sampling will include personal samplers worn by household residents. The sampling will continue for a couple of months. A report on the sampling should be issued in March.

CAG Member Question - What sampling technique will be used, polarized light microscopy or transmission electron microscopy?
Answer - Transmission electron microscopy, which is the state of art of sampling, will be used.

HEPA Vacuum Cleaners - EPA will provide a HEPA vacuum for each household following a residential cleanup. Use of these vacuums will help ensure that a clean household environment is maintained. Providing a vacuum and a fact sheet explaining its use will become part of the standard cleanup closeout practice.

Administrator Leavitt's Libby Visit - Administrator Leavitt had scheduled a half-day visit to Libby on December 5. While we look forward to his visit, the December 5 date was too early to allow necessary preparation by the Libby EPA team. Mr. Christiansen asked, therefore, that the visit be postponed, and it was. While a firm date has not been set, the Administrator will likely come to Libby sometime in February or early March.

CAG Member Question - I have a question about the residential cleanups. I received a call from a homeowner with vermiculite attic insulation who had a ceiling crack taped by an EPA contractor. The caller was apparently not told whether or when EPA would return to remove the contaminated attic insulation. Is taping the crack all of the cleanup that will occur at this house? Has the contractor visit dropped this house to the bottom of the cleanup list?
Answer - Taping a ceiling crack is only a temporary measure to prevent the insulation from entering the living space until the actual cleanup occurs. We use taping because we cannot fix every crack prior to cleanups. This house will be cleaned, and it has not dropped to the bottom of the cleanup schedule list.

EPA Outreach Activities - Wendy Thomi reported on EPA outreach activities. The HEPA vacuum fact sheet mentioned by Mr. Christiansen is available at the EPA Information Center. A draft of the video filmed during September to explain the cleanup process is finished, as is the fact sheet that will accompany it. Finally, a fact sheet on the annual cleanup report including information such as the cleanup cost will also be available at the EPA Information Center early in the new year.

CAG Member Question - Does the HEPA vacuum fact sheet mention that EPA will be supplying filters for the vacuum?
Answer - No, the fact sheet does not mention this. EPA will, however, be supplying the filters.

Tobacco Prevention Grant

Barb Guthneck, Executive Director of Libby Community Interagencies Inc., reported that the tobacco prevention grant has been received. A public forum on tobacco prevention will be held this coming May. Ms. Guthneck thanked the CAG for its support for the grant.

Fact Sheet and Letter Writing Campaign

Gayla Benefield reported on the effort to produce a fact sheet and to plan a community wide effort to support the full cleanup funding level requested by the Libby EPA team. Gordon Sullivan is drafting a fact sheet to explain the community's need for the full funding. Ms. Benefield read a letter, which is included below as Appendix 2 (PDF file), that will be included in a school mailer for 1,500 children. The letter will be edited to reduce its length. Ms. Benefield stated that baskets to collect letters from Libby people will be placed at various locations around the town. The letters will be given to Administrator Leavitt when he visits Libby next year. Ms. Benefield asked the CAG to endorse the letter so that it can be signed as coming from the CAG.

CAG Action - The CAG members present unanimously agreed that the letter be signed as coming from the CAG.

Mike Giesey, then read a draft resolution prepared at the request of the CARD Board of Directors. See Appendix 3 (PDF File) for a copy of the resolution. Mr. Geisey stated that a committee of volunteers will carry the resolution to Libby businesses and community organizations such as the ministerial association and service clubs to ask that they sign it. The signed resolution will also be presented to Administrator Leavitt during his visit. The CAG will be asked to endorse the resolution at either the January or February CAG meeting after it is finalized.

Ms. Benefield stated that a week-long media blitz involving television, radio, and print media is being planned to garner support for individual letters and the business and community organization resolution. An op-ed piece will be written for local newspapers.

CAG Member Comment - The draft letter for the school children and the resolution is good work.
Audience Member Comment - Perhaps the schools could conduct a contest in which children who write their own letters could be rewarded by giving them a candy kiss or by some other means. Letters from children can be very powerful.

CAG Member Comment - We cannot underestimate the value of a united community supporting the full cleanup funding. The new EPA Administrator is not personally committed to the Libby cleanup as was his predecessor, Administrator Whitman. Administrator Leavitt's pending trip here may be our last opportunity to have an impact and obtain his commitment.

CAG Member Comment - We can have a tremendous impact if we have a broad base of community support.

CAG Member Comment - A broad base of community support is critical, not just for the cleanup, but also for economic revitalization and to obtain the health care Libby will need.

Audience Member Question - What is the time frame for gathering signatures?
Answer - We need to have the signatures collected prior to the Administrator's visit here.

Audience Member Question - Can we get from EPA the names and addresses of people who have or are scheduled to have residential cleanups so we can solicit their support?
Answer by Jim Christiansen - No. For privacy reasons, EPA will not supply the names and addresses.

Audience Member Comment - As a business owner, I am willing to go door to door to collect signatures for the resolution. We need letters or resolution signatures from 75% of the individuals and businesses in Libby.

CAG Member Comment - Once we have a definite date for Administrator's visit here, we should schedule a CAG meeting on the prior Thursday evening so we can prepare for it.

CAG Member Question - Since George Bauer is no longer on the City Council, we need to solicit representative from the City to be a CAG member. We also need a representative of Lincoln County on the CAG. Would EPA help solicit members from the City and County?
Answer by Wendy Thomi - I am happy to assist, but the CAG itself should be the primary recruiter.

Asbestos Related Health Care Project Report

LeRoy Thom reported on behalf of the Asbestos Related Health Care Project Report (ARHCP). The ARHCP has three new members on its board of directors: Dave Stephenson, JoElyn Brus, and Jim Hopkins. The Libby Asbestos Medical Plan (LAMP) run by ARHCP to provide medical benefits to the W.R. Grace Medical plan has had 189 applicants to date. Since the W.R. Grace Plan has 600 enrollees, a large number of people qualified to participate in LAMP have not yet applied to do so. LAMP has obtained the services of outside doctors to review the cases of 9 individuals who have been denied enrollment in the W.R. Grace Medical Plan. We have also had 42 people apply to LAMP for screening benefits.

CAG Member Question - Is LAMP spending money yet?
Answer - We just got money into our checking account so we can begin doing so.

Items from Past Meetings

Gerald Mueller reported that a review of past meeting summaries indicated two outstanding issues. The first is an actuarial analysis to project future health costs in Libby. At October 10, 2002 CAG meeting, Dr. Spence, Montana's State Health Officer, reported that the state had obtained a $40 thousand grant to pay for a health economist to conduct an actuarial analysis of the future cost of adequate and appropriate health care for Libby. The CAG has not had an update on this study. Dr. Black stated that earlier this month, he wrote to Dr. Spence on behalf of the CARD Clinic Board of Directors sharing the Board's concerns about apparent weaknesses in the design of the actuarial analysis, which has not yet begun. A copy of Dr. Black's letter is attached below as Appendix 4 (PDF file). The second outstanding issue relates to information provided by landlords to prospective tenants about asbestos contamination. In a response to an audience member comment reported in the summary of the October 9 2003 CAG meeting, Jim Christiansen stated that EPA would ask a representative of the realty community involved with rentals to come to a future CAG meeting to discuss this issue. Jim Christiansen reiterated his commitment to do so.

Public Comment

Audience Member Question - Could we have someone from the state report to us about the results of the screening to date in the Montana Asbestos Screening and Surveillance Activity Program?
Answer by Craig French - I will take this request to Dr. Spence.

Next Meeting

The next regular CAG meeting is scheduled for 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 8, 2004 in the Ponderosa Room of Libby City Hall. The agenda will include a discussion of the EPA brochure entitled "Living with Vermiculite," the letter to Attorney General Mike McGrath prepared by Clinton Maynard, and a report on the community letter and resolution activities.

Appendix 1
CAG Member & Guest Attendance List
December 11, 2003

Members, Group/Organization Represented
George Keck, Technical Advisory Group (TAG)
Sandy Wagner, TAG
Craig French, Montana Department of Environmental Quality
David F. Latham, The Montanian Newspaper
Wendy Thomi, EPA Community Involvement
Jim Christiansen, EPA Project Manager
Brad Black, CARD/Lincoln County Health Officer
LeRoy Thom, Former Grace Employee
Gayla Benefield, LCAORO/ARD Network
Gary D. Swenson, LVFD
Clinton Maynard, Area Asbestos Research Group

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