EPA report cites risks at former pole yard

SANDPOINT – A recently released 1996 federal report about a contaminated industrial site concluded that cancer-causing pollution here may have affected as many as 5,000 people.

The 400-page Environmental Protection Agency report alleges that a cesspool may have existed at the former L.D. McFarland Co. pole yard site for a half century, as wood products such as telephone poles and fence posts were treated with chemicals including pentachlorphenol, a known carcinogen. The yards all used penta for 40 years until they shut down in the 1990s.

It’s not clear why the report was not released previously. It reportedly was made public after prodding from Betty Gardener of Priest River, who previously prompted the EPA to look at another pole yard contamination site in Oldtown.

Gardener said she pressed for documents in the Sandpoint case because she wants to make a difference for people living in communities that once were sites of potentially dangerous industrial operations.

“Hopefully, the city will take steps to remedy the situation by putting pressure on government agencies that enforce cleanup of hazardous waste sites,” she said.

Gardener has become a local advocate against pole yard pollution. In Oldtown, investigation revealed federal violations: Penta had reached water 80 feet underground. In that case, Poles Inc. is cleaning up its site.

Cleanup of the Sandpoint site – funded by L.D. McFarland – has been under way since 2002 and is nearing completion. Although the EPA study says there’s a potential for increased cancer risk, it notes the data aren’t conclusive.

The report said more than 5,000 gallons of penta, along with large quantities of creosote and other chemicals, were both accidentally and intentionally spilled during operations at the site, which once housed three pole yards.

In addition, high levels of penta and dioxin, another carcinogen, were found on private property just north of the contaminated pole yards. Some officials suspect that site was used for illicit dumping of chemicals from the pole operations.

“We’ve been working on a state remediation program for the last three years, and two of three contaminated areas at the McFarland site are clear,” said Geoff Harvey with Idaho’s Department of Environmental Quality.

“We’re holding McFarland responsible to clean it up and stabilize it, and we think they’re doing a good job.”

Still, city officials are trying to get two EPA remediation grants totaling $400,000.

If they secure the money, they hope to eventually rehabilitate the land and sell it to a developer, Mayor Ray Miller said.

“Once these sites are properly cleaned up and cleared, they’ll be very, very valuable real estate and are already attracting several interested buyers,” Harvey said.