EPA could contribute $2M to contain dust particles

DICKINSON, N.D. (AP) — An Environmental Protection Agency official says the agency may pay up to $2 million to help Dunn County contain dust particles on gravel roads that hold the potentially dangerous mineral erionite.

EPA on-scene coordinator Steven Way says a health study is under way to determine the significance of the risk.

The EPA has said that erionite is found in at least a dozen states in the West, but not at the levels in western North Dakota, where it's used on many rural roads.

The agency has said that U.S. studies have shown that erionite causes cancer in lab rats, though the mineral is not regulated by the agency.

Way says he's proposing an option to work with the county on evaluating some alternative dust control measures.

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