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Agencies Push for Action on ARCO’s Dust Problem in Opportunity |
October 31, 2006
ARCO-BP has been hearing from a variety of sources that its plan to control dust at it repository at Opportunity falls short of being effective and that the company needs to go back to the drawing board.
On October 12, the Environmental Protection Agency sent a letter to ARCO-BP (PDF) outlining the required measures to deal with the chronic dust problem at its mine waste repository near Opportunity in Anaconda-Deer Lodge County. The EPA wrote that ARCO-BP’s dust plan lacked “sufficient specifics” about how the company would control the dust. In its revised plan, due later this year, ARCO-BP must provide details on guidelines it will use for implementing best management practices to control dust.
In addition, the EPA called for the development of a community plan that would keep Opportunity residents informed about public health issues and work at the site. The plan calls for continuous real-time monitoring of finer grain dust particles within Opportunity and Warm Springs and also requires the dust samples be analyzed for metal content. Information on the dust will be disseminated to the community through newsletters, websites and postings in the community.
ARCO-BP, the legally responsible party for the cleanup of the majority of Superfund sites around the Clark Fork Basin, owns and manages the repository. The 3500-acre repository was originally the dumping ground for mine wastes from the Anaconda smelter. In 1980, the smelter closed and the repository was put on care and maintenance. The company had a dust suppression program at the repository but was discontinued in 1996. The repository has since become the ultimate destination for toxic sediments from Superfund sites from around the Clark Fork River watershed, including Milltown.
Local residents have been increasingly vocal about the possible health effects of airborne dust, which at times clouds the area around Opportunity, Warm Springs and even as far as the town of Deer Lodge. Last March, CFRTAC and the Opportunity Citizens Protection Association (OCPA) organized a community meeting on the dust issue. ARCO-BP subsequently released a dust mitigation plan in the spring, which CFRTAC technical advisors found to be inadequate to the task of abating the fugitive dust. Among other things, the CFRTAC review found that the plan did not contain a “clear or tangible commitment to prevent or respond to future dust events beyond whatever ARCO or its contractors may voluntarily choose to do.” And beyond that, the plan had not “been noticeably effective in addressing ongoing dust events,” which continued through the spring and summer.
In July, the Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Commissioners wrote to the EPA, DEQ and Governor’s Office. That letter warned that around the Opportunity site “the public’s health, safety and general welfare are being adversely affected from both existing conditions and those exacerbated by the current cleanup efforts.” It also requested that “the state and federal agencies do everything within their power to further address this matter.”
The county’s letter received some local media coverage and resulted in a contentious commissioners meeting. Workers of the local contractor showed up en masse, fearing their jobs may somehow be at stake. “The county took quite a bit of heat for these recommendations on the issue of jobs,” said Jim Kuipers, the Superfund technical advisor to Anaconda-Deer Lodge County. “We think dust mitigation is likely to increase employment opportunities.” EPA estimates that currently ten workers are assigned to dust mitigation.
On September 28, environmental justice champion Lois Gibbs returned to Opportunity to lead a community meeting on the dust issue that was attended by key decision makers from the EPA, the Dept. of Environmental Quality and ARCO-BP. Also on the 28th, the DEQ sent a letter (PDF) requesting that EPA direct ARCO-BP to adopt a number of additional mitigation measures. Since then, the EPA has convened several roundtable discussions with community members, local and state representatives, which has resulted in the basis for the recommendations for ARCO-BP.
Independent of the planning effort, ARCO-BP has begun to step up its dust control by applying a polymer surfactant – a thin plastic film of sorts — to some of the more problematic acreage at the site. “Workers at the site can cover roughly 70 acres per day and as of mid-October had covered more than 300 acres, with 400 more possible this fall. |
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Construction Mishap Halts I-90 Bridge Mitigation Work |
October 31, 2006
Last week the effort to reinforce the bridges along I-90 suffered a setback when an excavator slid off a work pad into Blackfoot River, reports the Missoulian. No one was injured in the accident, though the project has stopped while officials from the Army Corps of Engineers review the incident.
The five bridges over the Blackfoot River in Milltown need to upgraded or replaced (in the case of the pedestrian bridge) to withstand the strong flows of the river once the Milltown Dam is removed.
Earlier in October a portion of the work pad embankment – built atop old Blackfoot River sediments — sloughed off into the river. The excavator was reinforcing the bank with rip-rap when it slid into the drink. “It’s a construction project,” said Russ Forba, EPA’s Milltown project manager in a Missoulian interview. “They’re working in a difficult environment.” |
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Milltown Memorial Service Honors Phil Tourangeau |
October 16, 2006
The Clark Fork River lost a great friend recently with the sudden death of Phil Tourangeau, who died on September 28 following a massive heart attack.
Phil spent his entire career working as a scientist in public service. During much of the last two decades, he worked on Clark Fork River issues for a variety of organizations, including the Milltown Technical Assistance Committee, the predecessor to CFRTAC. Most recently he was a technical advisor to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.
A memorial held October 14 at the Milltown Dam site honoring Phil, his work and his life was attended by dozens of friends, colleagues and family members.
A full obituary is included after the jump.
Phillip C. (Phil) Tourangeau, 63, died on Thursday, Sept. 28, at St. Patrick’s Hospital of complications from a severe heart attack.
Born October 31, 1942, in Syracuse, NY to Ruth Melrose Mahaney and Phillip Earl Staff0rd, his family moved west and lived in several locations before settling in Salt Lake City, where he graduated from South High School in 1960. His studies at the University of Utah were set aside for U.S. Army service in Germany from 1963 to 1966. Upon discharge he transferred his studies to the University of Montana in 1968 and has lived in Missoula since. He concentrated his studies in Biology and Chemistry and received a BA in 1971, with continuing graduate studies in Plant Science and Pollution Problems.
His life’s work was as a scientist in public service. He worked at the Environmental Laboratory at the University of Montana from 1973 to 1985, serving first as Technician and then as Manager. He was Staff Scientist at the Clark Fork – Pend O’reille Coalition from 1988 to 1992; Natural Resources Damages Coordinator for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes from 1993 to 1999 and 2001 to 2006. He was Natural Resources Damages Coordinator for the National Park Service – Grant Kohrs Ranch from 1999 to 2000. He was a member of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society.
He dedicated himself to gathering reliable information for the public regarding the environmental conditions of the Clark Fork River Superfund Sites. His was a calm, reasoned, steady and determined force for bringing about environmental remediation and natural resource restoration at these sites, including removal of the Milltown Dam.
He loved to travel, often to Pacific Northwest cities. He loved to read, spending many hours in the U.M. Mansfield Library and in Missoula bookstores. In addition to personal family research his special interest was in the history of WWII and the post-war period and he had planned after retirement to visit Germany as a civilian and cross freely through the Brandenburg Gate. He was a good friend to many, all of whom will miss him deeply.
He is preceded in death by both natural parents and is survived by his brother, Ed Tourangeau (Pat) of Lafayette, IN, his stepfather Donald Tourangeau and sister Susan Patterson of Orlando, FL, and his niece Ann Tourangeau of Louisa, VA. At his death the North West Tissue Center facilitated the distribution of anatomical gifts.
Memorials may be made to the U.M. Mansfield Library (Attn: Memorial Donations). |
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Missoulian Article Looks at Bypass Channel Details |
October 13, 2006
The Missoulian today carried an article explaining Envirocon’s effort to assess the feasibility of constructing a bypass channel for the Clark Fork River at Milltown.
Bypass channel work site
The dewatering pilot test will involve the installation of a variety of wells and drains in a selected area along the footprint of the bypass channel (shown above) and then pumping and/or monitoring them to determine how well and easily the sediments and alluvium can be dewatered, thus allowing for the subsequent excavation of the channel.
“If we can’t get the water out of the sediment, then we’re going to have to look at a different way to go about it,” according to Envirocon’s Matt Fein, in a Missoulian interview. “Engineering and planning says it will work, but I wouldn’t want to bet the farm on it until we try it.”
Read the Missoulian’s coverage for more details. |
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Standard Coverage of Opportunity Dust Meeting |
October 13, 2006
The Montana Standard recently featured additional coverage of a meeting held September 28 in Opportunity to discuss the ongoing dust problem associated with the BP-ARCO repository.
The meeting, facilitated by Lois Gibbs of the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, was attended by numerous key decision makers from the state, EPA and BP-ARCO.
The complete article is found below.
Forum meets on toxic dust
By Vera Haffey of The Montana Standard - 10/11/2006
ANACONDA — It took months to arrange a meeting day that suited all of the parties involved. But organizers say they’re happy with the progress made at a recent forum held to discuss toxic dust that blows from Arco-British Petroleum’s 3,500-acre mining waste repository to property and homes in Opportunity.
“In New York, we don’t call it an informational meeting, we call it an accountability meeting,” said moderator Lois Gibbs, whose environmental activist work at Love Canal spawned Superfund law. “These are the folks who are supposed to fix the problem.” Representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Environmental Quality, Arco and the county met face to face with residents to hammer out differences and air concerns about a recent dust mitigation plan.
“It was wonderful,” Maureen Robinson of the Opportunity Citizens’ Protection Association said of the gathering that appeared to generate movement from the decision-makers. “We’re feeling really good about it.” That loosely written plan, proposed by Arco in response to citizens’ complaints, was criticized by residents and rejected by county leaders who asked the governor and attorney general to intervene.
Jim Kuipers of Kuipers and Associates of Butte, who provides technical assistance to the county, gave background on the long- standing dust problem that dates back to the erection of the main stack in 1918 to the time the smelter closed in 1980.
After the plant was shuttered, a care and maintenance routine was put in place, with an interim water treatment and dust suppression program, he said.
But in 1996, Arco discontinued those interim dust mitigation measures.
“About all I can say is look where we are today,” Kuipers said. “Maybe one can say if they hadn’t been discontinued, we wouldn’t be having this meeting.” Arco representative Gavin Scalley defended Arco’s work practices. He said that organization has improved dust control techniques in several ways during the past few months.
“On the ground, everyday, we’re doing things differently,” he said.
More water is sprayed on haul roads and problem areas now. Earth in borrow areas is “pre-wet.” Interim seeding is taking place. Work orders are altered to make problem sites a priority, and work on the streamside tailings is moving faster than planned.
Two major improvements in technique involve the more liberal use of magnesium chloride to bond the surface of roads, and application of a polymer surfactant material to hold down the dust.
Even so, those measures haven’t made an appreciable difference in the air that Opportunity residents breathe — especially during “dust events,” said citizens who still don’t know exactly what’s in that air.
Sandy Olsen, who represented the Department of Environmental Quality, agreed, especially when it comes to monitoring.
“We believe that the dust monitoring program needs to be expanded,” she told the group, adding that additional mitigation measures need to be used to make sure dust is controlled.
— Reporter Vera Haffey may be reached via e-mail at
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