The federal on-scene coordinator with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Emergency Response Unit, Marty McComb and one other EPA official are in Missoula to test the berms and the toxins at the former Smurfit-Stone mill site
One of the most significant effects of the Clark Fork River flooding is the danger of toxic materials stored for the last half-century in the old Smurfit settling ponds that are separated from the swollen river by only a series of earthen berms, being released into the river.
Flood response officials are focusing their attention on a levee in the East Mullan Road area that is reportedly being eroded by the flooding of the Clark Fork River, possibly putting infrastructure in the area at risk.
After declaring a flood emergency in late April, the Clark Fork, Bitterroot and Blackfoot Rivers have flooded and hundreds of thousands of county dollars have been expended, so Missoula County Commissioners officially declared a disaster on Thursday morning, making way for state aid.
The Missoula County Office of Emergency Management made an emergency declaration at the end of April in anticipation of the high waters they knew would be coming.
It was an amazing week for volunteers in Missoula as friends, neighbors and strangers met to fill sandbags and support those who were displaced by the rising waters of the Clark Fork, Bitterroot and Blackfoot Rivers.
Hydrologists say the Clark Fork is on track for record flooding. According to the National Weather Service, the latest projection is for it to reach the 13-and-a-half foot range in Missoula, and some of the high country weather stations show 60-to-70 inches of water has yet to melt out...
Day two of the mandatory evacuation due to flooding on the Clark Fork River brought officials sharing with the media some updates on the flood response.