The EPA will temporarily relocate as many as 27 households in a subdivision north of the city to test the area
Oregonian, Brent Walth
Published April 28, 2005
The federal government will take the extraordinary step to temporarily
relocate as many as 27 Klamath Falls families whose homes sit on top of an asbestos burial site.
The families of the North Ridge Estates subdivision had asked the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency to move them after recent air studies
determined that children face health risks from microscopic asbestos fibers if they play in the dirt.
The $300,000 move could affect 84 people, including 30 children and
teenagers. EPA officials say they eventually can charge the costs to the subdivision's developer, who homeowners say failed to disclose the existence of the asbestos.
The relocation is voluntary, and many North Ridge Estates families have been asking the EPA to approve it. The agency believes at least a dozen will move during the summer months.
"It's the right move, but we should not be in this position," said Allen Burns, who will move with his wife, Joann, and daughters Breanna, 12, and Chelsea, 10.
"It shouldn't be the EPA having to do this. The developer should have
stepped up a long time ago and said he would do all he could to get us out of here."
Relocating families is the most dramatic step taken since residents learned three years ago that tons of debris-shedding asbestos fibers lay beneath their land. If inhaled, the fibers can be harmful, causing scarring of the lungs or even cancer.
The discovery has all but wiped out property values for 19 homes and 14 undeveloped lots in the wooded subdivision.
But residents have worried more about spending another summer in the
subdivision, when dry weather and winds can stir up the soil. The EPA's plan calls for moving the families for three months, from June 10 to Sept. 10.
"Relocation is a fairly uncommon thing for us to do," said Alan Goodman, EPA remedial project manager in Portland. "But we made this decision because of several factors, including our principal concern, which is to protect public health."
Goodman said the agency also will move forward with plans for a more
thorough investigation of the site north of Klamath Falls.
The debris includes insulation, siding and roofing used in about 80
buildings when the site was a World War II barracks for Marines returning from fighting in the Pacific.
Over the years, the debris from collapsed or demolished buildings was
buried on site. Tons of debris have been removed in recent years, but chunks continue to surface. Asbestos fibers break free from the debris.
Workers in protective suits ran a rototiller and a weed trimmer as part of air tests last summer. They also dug in the dirt with a shovel and pail as children do when they play.
Based on those tests, the developer's environmental expert said in February that children should stay clear of dirt in the subdivision.
Since then, residents have been asking the EPA to be relocated. Local
officials and U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., also told the EPA they
supported the idea.
Many residents blame Mel Stewart, a Klamath Falls homebuilder.
The EPA in 1979 told Stewart's company, MBK Partnership, to designate
asbestos burial sites, which the company has acknowledged never happened.
A worker accidentally uncovered an asbestos-wrapped pipe in 2001, setting off a widening investigation of the burials and Stewart's role.
Thirteen families have sued Stewart's partnership in federal court,
alleging fraud.
MBK Partnership in turn sued the state of Oregon and federal government, both former owners of the site, claiming they bear responsibility for cleanup costs. Last month, the Oregon Department of Justice responded with its own $3 million lawsuit in state court alleging fraud by Stewart; his wife, Mary Lou; and business partner, Dr. Kenneth Tuttle, a local surgeon.
Stewart did not respond to an interview request. His attorney, Lawrence Burke, said Stewart's partnership favors a permanent relocation for families who want to move.
"We think if you're going to spend that much money to relocate people, then it's a waste of everybody's effort to just move them into a hotel for the summer," Burke said. "You'll have spent $300,000 and at the end of the summer it's not really done anything for you."
The EPA's Goodman said the agency does not have the authority to relocate people permanently until the site investigation is done. Plans call for setting families up in rental houses or apartments, he said.
The EPA plan estimates paying for the rents, utilities and other expenses for the families will cost about $104,000.
The plan also estimates moving the families' belongings could cost $35,000, providing security for the site another $35,000 and boarding homeowners' pets $20,000.
Burns said residents who want to be relocated still worry about the
disruptions in their lives. He said the children especially have been living with concerns about risks from the wastes and now face upheaval from their homes.
"Our daughters are very emotional right now," Burns said. "It's really
starting to set in for them. One of them told us last night, 'I just hate this. I wish we had never moved here.'"
