Opinion ID: 3034999
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the epa’s involvement in libby

Text: After beginning its investigation in November 1999, the EPA issued a Sampling and Quality Assurance Project Plan in December, followed by a more comprehensive revised plan in January 2000. The plan “address[ed] questions and concerns raised by citizens of Libby regarding possible ongoing exposures to asbestos fibers as a result of historical mining, processing and exportation of asbestos-containing vermiculite.” The EPA’s immediate efforts were directed toward (1) obtaining information on airborne asbestos levels in order to judge whether a time-critical intervention was needed to pro- tect public health, and (2) obtaining data on friable asbestos levels in potentially contaminated materials around Libby. The EPA stated that “[t]he first decision to be made is whether or not time-critical intervention is needed to protect public health.” UNITED STATES v. W.R. GRACE & CO. 15543 In his testimony before the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee in February 2000, the EPA’s regional administrator attested that the initial investigation confirmed two things: (1) “a large number of current and historic cases of asbestos related diseases centered around Libby,” including “33 incidents of apparently non-occupational exposures”; and (2) a “high likelihood that significant amounts of asbestos contaminated vermiculite still remain in and around Libby.” Vermiculite from the mine’s waste piles was “commonly used by local residents in their yards and gardens as a soil conditioner.” It was also used to create running tracks and baseball fields for nearby schools. The residents were particularly concerned because children regularly played in and around piles of vermiculite. These findings compelled the EPA to undertake more expansive testing. To put it mildly, subsequent testing showed asbestos contamination to be pervasive. Because asbestos is generally only harmful if inhaled or ingested, the mere presence of asbestos does not necessarily constitute an immediate threat. But the situation in Libby did not present this benign scenario. Instead, the EPA documented “complete human exposure pathways” through which asbestos particles were becoming airborne as a result of normal human activities, such as foot traffic and vacuuming, and natural forces, such as wind—especially during the dry summer months. This migration transformed the latent threat of undisturbed asbestos into a current hazard to anyone breathing the airborne particles. For example, residents described halting baseball games when large dust clouds swept over the field carrying particles from exposed piles of vermiculite. A study of Libby residents conducted in 2000 by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry not only found that most participants reported multiple routes of exposure, but also that 18% of those x-rayed had abnormalities in the lining of their lungs—as compared with the expected rate of 0.2% to 2.3% for groups living in the United States who have no known asbestos exposures. 15544 UNITED STATES v. W.R. GRACE & CO. These findings led the EPA to set out the intended removal action in a series of three memoranda issued between May 2000 and May 2002, which progressively broadened the scope of the cleanup. The original action memorandum, dated May 23, 2000 (“First Action Memo”), covered a former vermiculite export plant and screening plant, the former of which was being used as a retail lumber mill and the latter as a combined commercial/residential property.8 The First Action Memo authorized a time-critical removal action9 to be completed by spring/summer 2001 with a total project ceiling of approximately $5.8 million for the two sites. The EPA determined that the action met the requirements to exceed the $2 million, 12-month cap because the asbestos in the environment posed an immediate threat to the local population; a cleanup beyond the cap was required to prevent, limit, or mitigate an emergency because of the size of the cleanup and the short construction season; and assistance from other government agencies was not anticipated on a timely basis. The EPA then broadened the scope of the cleanup in an action memorandum amendment, dated July 20, 2001 (“Second Action Memo”), which covered “newly identified risks” at six additional locations and requested increased funding for costs associated with Grace’s reported denial of 8 Grace largely conducted the cleanup of the export plant in response to an EPA order dated May 23, 2000. 9 The EPA describes the cleanup in Libby as a single removal action both in the action memoranda and its briefs to this court: “EPA authorized a removal action to remove asbestos-contaminated materials from hundreds of homes, businesses, yards, gardens, school athletic fields, driveways, and mining plant facilities.” (emphasis added). Likewise, on appeal, Grace argues that the district court erred “by granting the United States summary judgment with respect to the validity of EPA’s characterization of the Libby response action as a removal rather than a remedial action.” Accordingly, we analyze the EPA’s activities in Libby as a single response action rather than a patchwork of discrete smaller actions. Cf. Colorado v. Sunoco, Inc., 337 F.3d 1233, 1241 (10th Cir. 2003) (concluding that there can be but one “removal action” per site). UNITED STATES v. W.R. GRACE & CO. 15545 access to the screening plant. The six sites included two private residences, three local schools, and a public road running past the mine site. Among the EPA’s foremost concerns were the high asbestos concentrations in the materials at these sites and the easily crumbled state of the exposed asbestos. For example, the EPA found nuggets of tremolite around the high school track that it described as “readily friable, releasing copious amounts of fibers upon degradation.” The EPA measured asbestos concentrations of 2% by polarized light microscopy (“PLM”) at a pile of vermiculite at one residence, and concentrations up to 1.5% in material scraped off equipment at the other residence.10 Samples taken from materials visible outside the elementary school indicated that the area contained asbestos at levels between 3% to 8% by PLM, and testing at the road showed asbestos concentrations up to 5%. As with the First Action Memo, the EPA determined that the situation warranted an exemption from the cap and, consequently, authorized a total site removal ceiling of approximately $20.1 million with an estimated completion date for most of the work by winter 2001/02. The EPA expanded the removal action again in an action memorandum amendment, dated May 2, 2002 (“Third Action Memo”), which brought a number of homes and businesses in 10 To put these numbers into perspective, in the First Action Memo, the EPA explained how asbestos concentrations in soil translate into risks to the public health: Currently EPA has not established, under any of its regulatory programs, an asbestos level in soil below which an exposure does not pose a risk. The 1% cut-off level for regulation under the Toxic Substances Control Act abatement program was established on the basis of analytical capability at the time, and was not established based on the level of risk represented. To the contrary, at Superfund sites in California EPA Region IX found in certain settings that concentrations of asbestos less than 1% posed unacceptable inhalation risks when subject to disturbance by traffic. Significantly, the asbestos was in a friable state. 15546 UNITED STATES v. W.R. GRACE & CO. Libby within the ambit of the removal action. The EPA again determined that an exemption from the statutory cap was warranted. In addition, although Libby was not added to the National Priorities List until October 2002, see 67 Fed. Reg. 65,315 (Oct. 24, 2002), the EPA proposed that the site be added in February 2002. The Third Action Memo also explained that the removal action was consistent with a planned future remedial action.11 The EPA estimated that the proposed work would take two to three construction seasons, and it raised the total project ceiling to approximately $55.6 million. The EPA continued removal activities consistent with its various Action Memos.12