Libby compensated for groundwater contamination
International Paper pays mitigation settlement
by Duane Williams, KLCB 1230 AM Libby News Radio
December 17, 2008
The City of Libby has negotiated a two year agreement with International Paper to mitigate aquifer problems created by Libby's original Superfund site, at the former mill site, now the Kootenai Business Park.
The agreement calls for International Paper to pay the City $200,000 each year from July of this year to July 2010, and to be renegotiated at that time. The City will realize $320,000 after $80,000 in attorney fees.
Further, the agreement calls for negotiations with International Paper to compensate the City for the decade between 1986 and 1997 when no agreement was in place.
The Libby Superfund site at the mill site is the result of decades of wood treating operations dating back to the 1940s by the succession of plant owners which polluted the Libby groundwater supply. That led to an ordinance prohibiting wells within the city limits to prevent the spread of the contaminated water.
Even if the City repealed the ordinance, which some residents have lobbied for, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Environmental Quality would step in and prohibit the use of the groundwater, leaving the City with no recourse and no compensation for the damage. _______________________________
Story by Duane Williams, KLCB 1230 AM Libby News Radio, www.todaysbestcountryonline.
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