EPA may have used contaminated soil in Libby cleanup
As part of the cleanup effort in Libby, Montana, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been removing asbestos-contaminated soil from local properties and replacing it with clean soil, but it appears they may have made a mistake. Seven yards were filled with soil from a site the EPA had used and tested many times, but the batch used to fill these seven yards may have been contaminated with asbestos.
EPA policy is to test each batch before it goes out, but the go-ahead was given before the test results returned. Testing involves sampling from 30 different points of a batch of topsoil about 3,000 cubic yards in size. The soil used in the seven yards in question came back with trace amounts after post-installation testing. The EPA will redo all of the previously cleaned yards that test positive for asbestos, even for trace amounts.
For the full story, go to The Western News.
