Newly elected Lincoln County Commissioner Mark Peck takes office in January, but the weight of his hometown’s asbestos issue already rests on his shoulders.

“It’s finding a balance between the science, the emotions and the politics,” Peck mused over lunch at Treasure Mountain Casino. “My biggest concern is what’s left behind and the implications when everyone leaves.”

By everyone, Peck is referring to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which has estimated another three to five years of cleanup before it pulls out of Libby, plus any number of other oversight agencies such as the state Department of Environmental Quality.

The gregarious commissioner-elect — known around town simply as “Moo,” a nickname Larry Racicot tagged him with in grade school — has a soft spot for Libby, and that makes the enormity of the asbestos aftermath even heavier.

“I wouldn’t trade growing up in Libby,” he said. “This is a hard-working, blue-collar town, and I grew up in Libby’s heyday ... I can honestly say I love this place.”

It’s not just the legacy of asbestos contamination left by the W.R. Grace & Co. vermiculite mine that consumes Peck. It’s the loss of timber jobs and other economic factors that play into the livelihood of the Northwest Montana outpost.

“This place has been beat down,” he said.

A unit manager for the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, Peck has seen firsthand the ripple effect of asbestos contamination with projects such as the Flower Creek Timber Sale. That logging project was put on hold after asbestos was found in the tree bark a couple of years ago, and remains stymied.

Even though the asbestos content in the bark was extremely low, Peck said the state opted to wait for a risk assessment. The EPA simulated logging scenarios on the mine site to determine asbestos levels both with heavy soil disturbance and low-level activities, and then tested a site 4 miles away. That data will be compared with levels found at the Flower Creek timber site.

As an incoming county commissioner, Peck sees the commission’s involvement with asbestos issues as “absolutely critical.

“Our No. 1 and No. 2 responsibilities as commissioners are public health and safety and the protection of personal property rights,” Peck said. “This [asbestos cleanup] lands right in the middle. We need to make sure we’re protecting public health, but that we’re not too restrictive on personal property rights.”

Peck admits he will have his work cut out for him.

“I’ll have to do a lot of research,” he added.

During a campaign interview with The Western News, Peck talked about his concerns over Lincoln County’s future.

“The EPA is finishing this project up. They are going to leave,” he told the local newspaper. “I don’t see the state stepping up to the plate as much as they should. I see the Department of Environmental Equality kind of running from the responsibility. It upsets me when the county is told that we are going to have to pick up some of the cost of whatever is left over here after people leave. If we don’t get this transition right, we are going to be saddled with expenses and processes.”

One of Peck’s biggest concerns is the “leave-and-seal-it concept” that’s been used as a cleanup method for many Libby homes with slight asbestos contamination. He wonders about exposure if one of those homes were to burn or be remodeled down the road.

“This homeowner buys this home and well, yep, it is clean,” he said. “Then they decide to remodel and they find out that, boom, they have to bring in all of these specialized people that work with asbestos.”

Peck said he doesn’t think homeowners should be on the line for any costs with homes the EPA has cleaned.

And Peck is as anxious as anyone in Libby to finally have the toxicity values revealed so the community and county can move forward. He said he understands the complexity of bringing “new science” to the study.

“There’s no question it’s frustrating that it’s taken so long,” he said. “It’s not intentional foot-dragging, but it’s time to get it done.”

Like his baby-boomer colleagues, Peck, 56, played Little League baseball on the vermiculite-filled fields. He’s never gotten screened for asbestos disease, though.

“I’m retired military [he spent 20 years in the Air Force], so I have heath-care [benefits],” he said. “I’m more fortunate than some.”

Peck is concerned about Lincoln County’s economic future.

“There’s a lot of Superfund fatigue here,” he said. “It’s put a blanket over this town ... economic development is difficult.”

He has observed some “positive things” happening in the business community. A finger-joiner manufacturing business mothballed in the early 2000s is running again, with about 15 employees. A post-and-pole plant was purchased and Peck said he has heard the business was operating two shifts.

“I see things turning around with timber, and a ball game is won on base hits, not home runs,” he commented. “There might be a few new tools we can use in the [federal] farm bill.”

Peck also sees the lingering pall of the asbestos aftermath. Some have claimed Libby is no cleaner now than it was when the EPA began the cleanup 15 years ago.

Peck doesn’t buy that.

“There’s no question the air quality is better now than when I was a kid,” he said. “For the good of Libby, we need to get this thing wrapped up.”

One of his many goals as a commissioner will be to make sure people affected by asbestos are taken care of.

“I don’t have a warm, fuzzy feeling for what that [solution] is yet,” he said. “Asbestos has impacted so many people in the worst possible way. It’s deep, personal and emotional.”

The most important question he’ll be asking, he said, is “Where do we go from here?”

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.