DuBose Law Firm

Montana’s congressional delegation is seeking assurances from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that the government will not leave the asbestos-contaminated town of Libby before its cleanup is complete.

At least 400 people have died in rural Libby from contamination caused by a now-closed W.R. Grace vermiculite mine. Vermiculite from the Grace mine was contaminated with naturally occurring asbestos .Exposure to asbestos can cause a number of diseases in humans including lung cancer and mesothelioma .

U.S. Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester and Rep. Denny Rehberg have asked the EPA to clarify its plans for the 3,000-person town. In separate letters sent in recent weeks, the lawmakers prodded the EPA to complete a long-delayed study of Libby asbestos.

They also wanted the EPA’s pledge to return to areas already cleaned if the study shows the health danger is worse than previously thought.

A June report by the Government Accountability Office listed Libby as one of 75 Superfund sites across the United States with health risks that are considered unacceptable. For Libby, that public danger is expected to last through at least 2015.

Last year, Libby became the first Superfund site ever declared as a public health emergency.

Agency spokesman Ted Linnert said the cleanup method proposed for the town park — placing a soil “cap” over what was once a processing site for Grace vermiculite — should be effective no matter the results of the risk assessment.

The cap is meant to keep people from inhaling or ingesting asbestos, which can cause cancer, lung scarring and other health problems.

Linnert added that the first two areas slated for cleanup would be reviewed after no more than five years to make sure the agency’s actions were effective.

Asbestos containing vermiculite was sold as attic insulation to millions of homes across the United States. Locally, in Libby, the material was used across the town in numerous applications including in homes, businesses, baseball diamonds, the running track at the high school and tilled into backyard gardens. Decades of activity at the Grace mine produced so much dust that hazardous asbestos is now embedded in the barks of trees that cover the surrounding mountains.