The Daily Inter Lake

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has published a report on contamination in the Evergreen area, and the Legislature is considering a bill that would help the state to pay for its share of the cleanup.

The report is based on groundwater and soil testing carried out Sunday on the 55-acre former industrial area behind Office Max on U.S. 2. It provided a view of pollution that resulted from operations dating to the 1930s at sites occupied by Kalispell Pole and Timber, Reliance Refinery Co. and Yale Oil Corporation - entities that no longer exist.

"One of the main objectives was to determine the extent of the contamination, both horizontally and vertically," said Moriah Bucy, project manager with the DEQ Remediation Division.

The field work found "low levels" of contaminants in nearby residential water wells; "however, none of the levels exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's safe-drinking-water standards," according to a report summary.

But 94 wells established to monitor groundwater in the area found contamination "with chemicals at levels greater than both federal and state regulatory standards," according to the summary. The chemicals include pentachlorophenol, petroleum hydrocarbons, dioxins and furans.

The DEQ is taking public comment on its Remedial Investigation Report until March 1. The document is available online at http://www.deq.mt.gov.

The next step, Bucy said, is to develop a feasibility study that would outline cleanup plans, followed by another plan that would forward a "preferred" approach for cleanup. A final decision, clearing the way for cleanup to begin, is projected for spring 2008.

But even then, cleanup may be delayed further because the issue is tangled in a lawsuit.

The department identified seven entities that it is trying to hold responsible for the underground contamination, which occurred between 1924 and 1990. It filed a lawsuit in 2004 in state court, trying to make them help pay for the cleanup.

The entities are Exxon Mobil, Swank Enterprises, Klingler Lumber Co., Montana Mokko, Kalispell Pole and Timber and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad. Also on the list is the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, which at one time owned and leased property in the contaminated area.

The state has acknowledged that the DNRC is responsible for part of the cleanup, and to cover those costs legislation has been proposed that would provide access to the state's so-called "Orphan Fund."

An initial hearing was held Thursday for House Bill 388, which would direct money from a variety of special funds to pay for projects aimed at restoring land and water resources.

One section of the bill would give state agencies access to the Orphan Fund to pay for the cleanup projects under the state Superfund law. The contaminated Evergreen area has been listed as a Superfund site since the 1980s.

Out of the $5.5 million made available by HB 388, about $3.5 million would be spent in the next three years for restoration at several sites:

. $1.3 million for the Evergreen cleanup;

. $2 million for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail yard in Livingston;

. $100,000 to being restoration work at the Davis Pole Yard in Willow Creek; and

. $85,000 to begin work at the Arro Oil Refinery in Lewistown.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com