After spending $1.6 million to install a community septic system for Rimini residents, the Environmental Protection Agency now wants to spend another $200,000 to remove most of it.

The federal agency also has reconsidered the price tag for building a community water treatment system for the 45 people who live in Rimini -- a new estimate puts the cost at $4.4 million, up from $300,000 in the project's Record of Decision issued in 2002.

That breaks down to a cost of about $98,888 per person, or $176,000 per household.

The changes are part of the new proposed plan to finish removing contaminated soils from Rimini's road and yards and to provide clean drinking water. The public can comment on the plan during the next month, and a final decision is expected by the end of the year.

Montana EPA Director John Wardell knows some of the proposed changes to the 2002 plan may come as a shock, but he said the agency came to its conclusions based in large part on cost, as well as what appeared to be a split among the community as to what should be done.

The original estimate for the road and yard work, community water and wastewater treatment systems, as well as the effort to remove waste rock from surrounding hillsides, was about $22 million. The EPA recently acknowledged it has spent about $31 million and anticipated it would take about $10 million more to complete the work.

"This proposed plan involved a lot of conversations between EPA Region 8 (of which Montana is a part) and our headquarters (in Washington, D.C.)," Wardell said on Tuesday. "I think they were good discussions and there are sound reasons for advocating it."

He added that the increased costs are due to a number of factors, citing inflation and fuel costs. But he acknowledged that perhaps the initial estimate for the water treatment system wasn't very accurate.

"Maybe we didn't do a realistic job estimating what those costs would be," he said.

Mixed response

When Rimini resident Chuck Watters heard of the proposed changes, he hadn't read the 14-page document that was distributed Tuesday and wasn't exactly sure of the EPA's intentions. Still, he questioned why the EPA wanted to focus on the expensive water treatment system, when some residents already have installed their own home filtration systems and others' wells provide water that falls within federal drinking water standards.

Watters said residents he's talked to are more concerned about non-conforming septic systems that couldn't be replaced if they failed, and added that a community system would help prevent further water quality degradation from antiquated systems. He wondered aloud why the EPA had "wasted" $1.6 million to install the septic system.

"My first thought is that this confirms the inept decisions EPA makes," Watters said.

Jock Bovington, a former member of the Rimini sewer and water district board, said he's disappointed the wastewater treatment system won't be completed.

"The community was hoping to see the EPA finish what they thought they were going to do in 2002," Bovington said.

But Jim Martin, one of the residents opposed to both the community treatment systems, was pleased with the decision.

"It was a long time coming, but it takes a man to admit his mistakes," Martin said.

Twists and turns

What's become the saga of Rimini began in 1999 when the town was declared a Superfund site based on high levels of lead, cadmium and other heavy metals in the yards and on the surrounding steep slopes.

Two years later, the EPA told Rimini residents many of their wells were contaminated with arsenic, and they were living in the midst of what the federal government calls "a public health hazard," all due to the historic mining in the narrow, picturesque drainage.

Wardell came out with the Record of Decision -- known as a ROD -- for Rimini in 2002. It called for drilling deep wells, then designing and constructing a water treatment plant for the town at a cost of about $468,000; as an alternative, if they couldn't find an underground water source, a surface water system was estimated to cost about $317,000.

The ROD also said the EPA would replace Rimini yards at a cost of $1.2 million; replace the road for $232,000; and clean up about 70 of the 150 mines that dot the surrounding hillsides -- as well as deal with their acid mine drainage -- for about $16 million.

As a contingency, the EPA said it would build a community wastewater treatment system if the agency had to disturb individual septic systems when doing the yard cleanup work. If altered even slightly, many of these grandfathered septic systems couldn't be replaced because they're too close to the river, in the flood plain or on too small of a lot. The estimated cost of the new community system was $666,000.

However, as work on the project -- formally known as the Upper Tenmile Superfund Site -- progressed, it ran into a myriad of difficulties, including disputes with the county over the width of the new road; unexpected underground boulders and deeper than expected contaminated soils; and disagreements over who would be allowed to hook into the wastewater system.

Meanwhile, the price tag continued to climb until an August 2006 showdown in Rimini that included Sen. Max Baucus; Susan Bodine, head of the EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response; Max Dodson, EPA assistant regional administrator; and Rimini residents.

Work on the Rimini project had ground to a halt earlier that year, and in February 2007, Wardell announced that an internal review was being undertaken and that the scope of the effort could change.

The proposed plan unveiled Tuesday is part of that review, and Wardell said he hopes to issue a ROD amendment by the end of the year that will formally outline the remaining work.

Work remains

Wardell said he anticipates the work in Rimini, which includes items like hand excavation of contaminated soils around septic tanks, replacing the contaminated roadway and constructing the water treatment plant, to be completed within two years.

He's not sure what will happen, though, if the excavation in town disturbs the existing septic systems, most of which Lewis and Clark County officials say can't be replaced due to the small lots in the narrow valley and the concern that they're leaking into Tenmile Creek.

"We'll address that issue at some point," Wardell said. "There are ways to make it work."

He noted that the 48,000-gallon septic tank buried in 2005 may remain in place to hold water for firefighters. That would require the approval of the U.S. Forest Service, on whose ground the tank is buried.

Other issues around Rimini, in the Tenmile watershed -- which is the main source of drinking water for the city of Helena -- will take longer.

That work was included in the original ROD but not in the amendment, and involves removing mine waste from the hillsides and stopping acid drainage from two mines within the community, and probably will take a few more years, Wardell said.

Proposed plan

Copies of the proposed plan for Rimini are available for review at the EPA's office at 10 West 15th St. in Helena or at the Rimini Field Office, 3400 Rimini Road.

A question-and-answer period for Rimini residents is slated for 6:30 p.m., Oct. 11, at the Rimini community center. A more formal public comment meeting will be held there Oct. 24.

Written comments can be sent to Mike Bishop, EPA project manager, 10 West 15th St. Suite 3200, Helena, MT 59626.

The comment period runs until Nov. 3.

Reporter Eve Byron: 447-4076

or eve.byron@helenair.com.