DEP Press Advisory on Deer Hunting Cancellation, October 2, 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

uLoy..... lion attics across America. Libby The asbestos in Libby is more The small northwest Montana attics are eligible for Superfund town’s 2,700 residents have the dis­ insidious than the more common money only if the EPA finds a serpentine asbestos, such as chrys­ tinction, said Environmental Pro­ public health emergency or if tection Agency toxicologist Chris otile, found in old flooring, roofing someone not living in the home materials, brake linings and pipe Weis, of experiencing “the most could be exposed to dangerous severe residential exposure to a insulation. Tremolite produces hazardous material this country quantities of asbestos. sharp, thin fibers that lodge in the has ever seen.” The extent of asbestos contami­ outer pleural membrane of the Death rates from asbestosis in nation in this town is hard to lungs in a way beyond the body’s Libby are 40 to 60 times the na­ grasp. While it’s perfectly safe to ability to remove them. tional average. And Libby has breathe Libby’s mountain air — Over a period of 15, 20, even 40 stunned toxicologists with evi­ the mine’s processing plants no years,_ scar tissue buildup de­ dence for the first time that asbes­ longer belch asbestos fibers into creases the lung’s ability to ex­ tos, long known as an occupational the atmosphere — all you have to pand, leaving victims to suffocate, hazard, has affected large num­ do is scratch in the dirt in some a tortuous process that can take bers of people who never worked places to find it. years. The clinic in Libby is now with asbestos — or lived with any­ Vermiculite is a naturally oc­ handling 680 active asbestos cases. one who did. curring mineral that has been “In the last five years, I have A wide-ranging health survey used for decades in insulation, soil seen an alarming number of pa­ released last month showed that conditioning, fireproofing com­ tients from Libby who had no di­ at least 18 percent, and possibly as pounds and fertilizers. While ver­ rect exposure to the mine or to the many as 30 percent, of the 5,590 miculite itself is nonhazardous, its miners who had asbestosis.” Spo­ residents of Libby and surround­ ore is sometimes threaded with kane, Wash., physician Alan ing rural communities had lung tremolite, a rare and extremely Whitehouse testified before Con­ abnormalities. Many had no expo­ toxic form of asbestos. Milling re­ gress earlier this summer. sure to asbestos other than breath­ moved most, but not all, of the Of the 24 patients of White­ ing Libby’s air. A total of 48 per­ tremolite. And Libby’s ore had a house’s who have died in Libby cent of former mine workers had higher-than-normal tremolite con- over the last three years, only 18 tent.---------------------------------- w^ nfiners. It is “easily conceiv-- lung problems^ In Libby, vermiculite was free. With cleanup costs estimated at able,” he added, that as many as Residents drove away with pickup 2,000 Libby residents ultimately $50 million for the town alone — loads to distribute in their gardens not counting the massive contami­ will show symptoms. as mulch and their attics and In Libby, it is hard to find a fam­ nation at the old mine itself — the chicken coops as insulation. EPA will decide over the next few ily that doesn’t have a case of as­ Federal agencies for years doc­ bestos disease, or at least a close months whether to add Libby to umented — and largely ignored — the federal Superfund program. friend with a bad chest X-ray. potential hazards to workers. It Don Kaeding, 79, spends most of which provides aid for the nation’s took a series of lawsuits to begin most polluted industrial sites. As tallying the deaths. When Paul his days in his living room, hooked an alternative, W.R. Grace & Co.. Peronard was sent from the up to his oxygen booster. His prob­ which operated the mine from EPA’s Denver office in November lems, he believes, date to the 30 1963 until it closed in 1990, has of­ 1999 to check out news reports months he worked at the mill and fered to do the cleanup itself. that as many as 200 people had up at the mine, mostly doing Grace, a $1.6 billion chemical died of asbestos exposure, he carpentry jobs. and building materials company. didn’t see how it could be true. “I really feel that W.R. Grace, has already paid $20 million in in­ “The reports didn’t really recon­ some of their CEOs, should be dividual claims and spent more cile with what I’d been taught tried for murder, because murder than $2 million cleaning up its about asbestos-related disease and is what they committed in this plants in Libby. The company has exposure,” Peronard said. “My un­ town,” Kaeding said. pledged millions more to pay derstanding of asbestos was it’s an medical bills for anyone in Libby occupational problem. You need diagnosed with an asbestos-re­ long-term exposure with fairly lated illness and $250,000 a year to consistent doses, and you rarely if the local hospital for health ever saw it outside the workplace. screenings. And it’s an old problem, one that’s EPA administrator Christie going away.” added Peronard. Whitman will take on the difficult who now is the EPA’s on-site coor­ question of whether Superfund dinator. cleanup money can be used in “What I saw was a pretty stark Libby to remove Zonolite home in­ contrast to that.” sulation, which was installed in anywhere from 800,000 to 10 mil-

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