Officials in Routt County and Steamboat Springs are seeking federal support to assist with the necessary cleanup of properties destroyed by the West Acres Mobile Home Park. A plane crashed there in June.

The pilot of the twin-engine Cessna 421C aircraft reported engine failure before landing at Bob Adams Field on June 17.

Pilot Dan Dunn, 67, took off from Vance Brand Airport in Longmont just after 3 p.m., planning to fly to Ogden, Utah, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board.

Dunn and passenger Jessica Melton, 42, were killed. the plane crashed into the West Acres Mobile Home Park around 4:20 p.m.. While no one was injured in the incident, fire crews extinguished the flames in a short time.

The state’s Department of Public Health and Environment investigated the scene after Federal Aviation Administration and U.S. National Transportation Safety Board inspectors cleared the area and found “significant” amounts of asbestos, according to documents on the City Council’s agenda Tuesday. Found in mobile home wreckage.

“Since neither mobile home owners nor park owners have the funds to carry out removal in accordance with CDPHE requirements, debris from homes remains in place with high levels of asbestos and insurance companies will not cover anywhere near the estimated cost,” read the contact form sent to councillors.

According to the city, the estimated cost of removing asbestos debris is approximately $400,000 for each mobile home, but “neither mobile home insurance companies nor mobile home park insurance provide this amount of financing or reimbursement for debris removal to the owner.”

While the aircraft insurance company provides benefits to the relatives of the pilot and the passenger, according to the agenda documents, the liability part of the coverage is 1 million dollars, and the expected cost of damages is expected to exceed this figure.

Additionally, there appears to be an exclusion in the insurance policy that the aircraft insurance provider is not responsible for asbestos removal.

Routt County has already secured some funding through a U.S. Department of Homeland Security emergency grant to erect a fence around two damaged mobile home sites to reduce the potential for asbestos debris to blow into adjacent yards, but more support is needed.

Steamboat City Manager Gary Suiter and Routt County Manager Jay Harrington sent a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in early October to request assistance through the EPA’s Emergency Response Program.

Although the changing season makes the issue even more urgent, the city and county have yet to receive “final word” from the EPA on whether EPA will handle debris removal and cleanup.

“It is imperative that debris removal operations begin as soon as possible,” the letter states. “Routt County typically begins receiving snowfall in November, and this snow will hinder debris removal operations and increase hazard for debris removal personnel.”

“Due to the slope of the debris field, spring snowmelt is expected to flow from the affected property to nearby properties, potentially bringing asbestos-contaminated material with it,” the letter adds.