Apr 02, 2008 - 04:05:08 CDT
KILLDEER Larry Lundberg lives right in the hot zone of erionite deposits in the Killdeer Mountains of Dunn County. It's a mineral similar to asbestos.On Tuesday, he and about 100 others attended a meeting at the Killdeer school held by the Environmental Protection Agency to announce that the fibrous mineral, like asbestos, can be breathed into the lungs by humans, after testing the substance for the last year.
Erionite is in gravel that's been used for years to surface roads and parking lots in the county, mined from rock crushing operations around the Killdeer Mountains.
It's linked to lung diseases in cancer in other parts of the world and while state geology officials knew about North Dakota's erionite deposits, they didn't know about the possible health risk until a couple of years ago.
The State Health Department asked the EPA to help investigate, and the federal agency after sampling and testing, recently delivered the sobering news: the mineral has a direct exposure pathway to the lungs because of its microscopic size.
Lundberg said he's not particularly worried, even though his family ranch is at erionite ground zero in Dunn County.
He said his granddad lived to be 85; his dad is 81.
"We drive up and down the roads every day. None of us have lung or cancer issues," Lundberg said. "Common sense prevails."
Scott Radig, waste manager for the State Health Department, said though there're no laws for use of erionite, the department has published some recommendations.
He said the department recommends not using any gravel from the exclusion zones and that any gravel from the general area is tested before use.
He said the recommendations are mandatory for state roads, but voluntary for county and private users.
Dunn County quit using the erionite gravel when the issue came up and was awaiting more information before deciding whether to use it again.
Rep. Shirley Meyer said the county needs more gravel this year than ever because of oil development, and not being able to use it is a financial burden, especially given the minimal amount of data that's available.
Steve Way, EPA coordinator, said the decision whether to use the gravel is not the agency's call. Rather, it's the agency's job to help determine any health risk to humans.
"That's our job," Way said. "We were asked to help."
Erionite is the result of volcanic ash spewed from western mountains 65 million years ago and today makes up 10 percent of the cap rock on the Killdeer Mountains. State geologist Ed Murphy said most Dunn County gravel comes from pediment gravel sources and contains less erionite than if it were straight off the cap rock.
It's also present in the "little Badlands" southwest of South Heart and in Chalky Buttes in Slope County.
Way said it's not yet certain the extremely carcinogenic exposure in Turkey can be compared to anything in North Dakota.
Way said erionite is also found in other Great Plains' states, but the EPA doesn't know of another case where so much of it has been used to gravel public roads, an estimated 100 miles in Dunn County.
Joyce Ackerman, also an EPA coordinator, said the agency used air filters to see how much erionite would reach airways during driving, raking and other activities.
She said driving in someone else's dust did cause exposure, but more information and testing are needed before the health risk to humans is known.
There are no published numbers for erionite that measure a danger point, Ackerman said.
(Reach reporter Lauren Donovan at 888-303-5511 or lauren@;westriv.com.)
Well Gooooolly wrote on Apr 2, 2008 8:04 PM:
Resident of Dunn County wrote on Apr 2, 2008 6:31 PM:
http://www.inctr.org/publications/2003_v04_n01_s03.shtml
Very good articles about Turkey. These types of asbestos, however, are often responsible in Turkey for health problems, since these so-called “white soils” were traditionally used in rural areas to make a whitewash or stucco to surface the walls, floors, and roofs of houses and also as a substitute for baby powder and gripewater. "
Dale A. Swenson wrote on Apr 2, 2008 12:41 PM:
Was any deposit containing erionite sold or hauled to neighboring counties? Living with a home near a gravel road where prevailing winds stir dust into the house may also be a cause for concern.
Please, county commissioners, consider this and do some research.
Dale A. Swenson "
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