Clapper, Patti, Schweizer and Mason

Libby, Montana is one of the most infamous towns in America thanks to the mining operations there which exposed thousands of miners and townspeople to dangerous levels of asbestos, a naturally occuring yet also cancer causing mineral.  However, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a new report which says cleanup efforts in the town have managed to take a bite out of that danger--though there is much left to do in order to make the town safe once more. 

The asbestos danger in Libby, came from the vermiculite mines.  Vermiculite was used extensively as insulation during new home and business construction for years.  However, the vermiculite that came from the Libby mine was tainted by naturally occurring asbestos.  Therefore, miners were unknowingly exposing themselves to dangerous levels of a compound that has been known to cause asbestos cancer, mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung disease. 

In fact, the damage done to the town by the mining operation was so severe that in 1999 the entire area was declared a Superfund site.  Since then, the EPA has spent an estimated $370 million to clean up the town.

This latest report from the agency shows that while asbestos still remains a danger in the Montana town, the contaminant levels are much lower than they were in the 1990s.  In fact, the levels are so low that the EPA has declared the air in Libby, Montana safe to breath.   

The EPA’s regional administrator, James Martin, said in a recent statement that “[The EPA is] going to continue cleanups this summer.  We're doing more aggressive cleanups to try and get a real handle on the exposure that’s going on out there,” adding, “we're not leaving till we're done.” 

Asbestos diseases like mesothelioma can remain unnoticed for up to fifty years.  Therefore, the true extent of the devastation caused by vermiculite mining in the town may not be revealed for another 3 decades.  By that time, many of those exposed to asbestos in the 1990s could be in stage 3 or stage 4 of the deadly disease with just months to live. 

Mel Bloom, a concerned Libby resident who attended a local hearing on the issue, voiced distress that certain areas of the town had been completely overlooked.  Indeed, his house has yet to be included in any effort lead by the EPA.

Bloom’s frustrations stem from the fact that the responsibility to clean up his house has not even been allocated—so far, the issue has been ignored.  If “something happens, or our kids get [the house], and it's not cleaned up and has to be, somebody's going to have to be responsible for it.”

The cleanup of Libby, Montana will likely take decades.  Many residents are worried that the responsibility for the mess created by asbestos will fall on their children and their children’s children.  In the meantime, residents continue to closely monitor their own health for any sign that they may be personally affected by the debacle.