Aug 10, 2006 - 08:00:26 CDT
Gravel pits in Dunn County have tested positive for a cancer-causing mineral, and will be investigated and tested by the Environmental Protection Agency, officials said."We will be working hand in hand with the state and the county to see whether it'll be safe to continue using (the gravel) or not,"Joyce Ackerman, an on-scene coordinator with the EPA, said Tuesday. The gravel has been used for roads and hiking trails.
Several gravel pits, most privately owned, near the base of the Killdeer Mountains were tested in May for erionite, after a University of North Dakota geology professor alerted officials to a potential problem.
"I discovered erionite in the Killdeer Mountains in 1986 but didn't know at that time that it was a problematic material,"said Nels Forsman, an assistant professor at UND.
But after hearing a lecture in spring 2005 on the mineral's carcinogenic, asbestos-like properties, Forsman informed the state geologist.
"There is some indication that erionite is worse than asbestos, should it get into you,"Forsman said.
Forsman said the gravel on roads and hiking trails could be a concern because flying dust could be ingested.
After the results for several of the gravel sites came back positive for erionite, the EPAbegan forming its own team of people to determine what the next steps should be,said Scott Radig, director of the division of waste management with the North Dakota Department of Health.
"We don't mean to alarm anybody by this, but we do feel that it's prudent to look into it anyway. EPA has a toxicologist that's now assigned to the project, and he's going to be comparing this to asbestos, to see what information is available,"Radig said. "So far, from what Iknow, there's not very much information."
For now, the some of the roads have been sprayed with a chemical to keep the dust down, Ackerman said, until the EPA decides whether or not the gravel pits contain considerably dangerous levels.
Experts are still determining what constitutes a dangerous level of the carcinogen, she said, adding that the investigation and testing could take months.
Until then, the state health department has asked the county not to use the gravel, said Reinhard Hauck, county auditor. While most of the gravel pits are private, the actual crushed gravel is owned by the county.
"But we need gravel,"he said."There's other sources outside of that area, but if you have to haul it in, it becomes expensive. Yeah, it's going to put a damper on things a bit."
The health effects from the mineral could be devastating, though:Most information available regarding erionite cites cases in Turkey, where nearly 50 percent of the deaths in two villages were attributed to heavy exposure of erionite in living quarters, Ackerman said.
"Their exposure was just huge, but that's not the situation in North Dakota,"Ackerman said.
As for North Dakota, there have been 45 diagnosed cases of the cancer caused mainly by erionite or asbestos, called mesothelioma, from 1997 to 2004, said Marlys Knell, North Dakota Cancer Registry coordinator.
None of those were in Dunn County, she said.
Deaths from that cancer began being coded in 1999, after which 42 deaths across the state were attributed to mesothelioma, said Carmell Barth, research analyst for vital records in the state department of health.
Forsman said open pits that contain small amounts of erionite are not necessarily a hazard, compared to being exposed to erionite in concentrated amounts. In fact, he said, erionite is often mixed in asphalt in roads.
The mineral is part of a volcanic ash layer, which also includes clay and calcite, about 30 feet below the top of the Killdeer Mountains, Forsman said. Erosion probably shifted some down to the gravel pits, he said.
"It isn't a problem unless you're ingesting it,"Forsman said. "The human body is pretty good at filtering out things like that."
Tex Appledoorn, a Dunn County commissioner, said there's no cause for alarm yet.
"I'm just going to wait it out and see what's going to happen," Appledoorn said. "We've used gravel up there for as long as everybody can remember."
(Reach reporter Crystal Reid at 250-8261 or crystal.reid@;bismarcktribune.com.)
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