US EPA comments on erionite problem in North Dakota

US state and federal health officials have determined that an asbestos-like mineral found on one hundred miles of road in Dunn County, North Dakota, could be inhaled. Officials discussed the potential problems with locals, and continued to evaluate the level of threat posed by the mineral substance. The asbestos-like mineral is erionite, which is located in several natural deposits in the area, including in the Killdeer Mountains, the White and Chalky buttes in Slope County, the “little Badlands” southwest of South Heart in Stark County, and in other locations in southwestern North Dakota.

Dunn County gravel pits were first found to be contaminated with erionite in October 2006. The mineral has been found as a contaminant in locally-mined gravel used in parking lots and on public roads in Dunn County. Since the discovery of erionite in the gravel in the area, the Environmental Protection Agency has been analyzing samples to determine if the erionite is a health risk.

The EPA tested samples of the erionite-containing gravel, and found that the particles were of a size that was able to be inhaled and collect in lung tissue.

The EPA has also been trying to determine what the effects of long-term exposure to the Dunn County erionite might be, but an EPA On-Scene Coordinator, Joyce Ackerman, pointed out that it’s difficult to determine what the true long-term effects might be because it’s difficult to estimate how much erionite locals have been exposed to.

Inhalation of erionite has been linked to lung diseases, including some mesothelioma-like cancers in Turkey, however the substance is not regulated by the EPA.

This week, EPA representatives and North Dakota Department of Health officials met with local residents to disseminate information on erionite and the tests that have been carried out in the area.

EPA On-Scene Coordinator Steve Way said “There is enough evidence that erionite may pose a health threat and we need to evaluate what level of threat.”

Conclusive links between erionite and health risks in the Killdeer area haven’t been found, but Way says that this doesn’t mean the risks don’t exist, and studies will continue. “We’re looking at whether or not the conditions here pose the same kind of health risks that exist in Turkey.”

North Dakota Department of Health representative Scott Radig said at the meeting that the NDDH recommends that citizens should take steps to lower their risk in the meantime, including not using gravel from erionite-contaminated zones in Dunn, Slope, and Stark Counties.