FlatheadBeacon.com
A $1.2 million emergency cleanup by the EPA has been underway at the “Valley Drive Abandoned Slurry Site”. Cleanup at the Site has included the disassembly and removal of 545 tons of contaminated soil, 80,000 gallons of tank waste and 180 cubic yards of steel waste.
A local firefighter notified the EPA after noticing that “a dark material leaking from the largest tank was pooling on the ground” in the public right of way, the tanks were barely intact. “We could have been mere weeks to months away from serious well and groundwater contamination,” the firefighter stated.
Sampling at the site confirmed the presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs — specifically, the carcinogenic compounds xylene, ethylbenzene and naphthalene.