Posts Tagged Montana

Former Libby High students sought for health study

Posted by Marc in Asbestos Exposure, Mesothelioma, Research on June 25, 2010

As the largest Superfund site in the history of the U.S., the town of Libby, Mont. has been forever turned upside down by the vermiculite mine six miles outside of town that kicked up asbestos dust for decades and is directly responsible for killing more than 400 residents.

The Environmental Protection Agency have been a mainstay in Libby for nearly a decade, spending much of the time discovering that the asbestos problem is much worse than originally thought.

But the EPA aren’t the only ones interested in what’s going on in Libby. The Center for Asbestos Related Disease is undertaking a $4.8 million study of former residents who attended Libby High School between 1950 and 1999.

The purpose of the study is to track the health of these roughly 13,000 students and determine the extent of contamination – specifically why Libby residents have been diagnosed with Asbestos-related diseases on a much faster timeline than many others who have been exposed in other ways and places.

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Everyone wants Libby to go away and it’s not going away

Posted by Marc in Asbestos Exposure, Mesothelioma on May 25, 2010

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Those familiar with the fight to Ban Asbestos have long been familiar with Libby – a small mining and logging town in the northwest expanses of Montana.

A great write-up from AP reporter Matthew Brown chronicles in heartbreaking detail what residents of the town — now the most dangerous superfund site in the history of the U.S. — have dealt with over the years.

The story chronicles Gayla Benefield and Eva Thomson, two sisters who’ve seen witnessed mesothelioma and asbestos claim the lives of numerous close family members and friends.

From recounts of kids unknowingly playing on asbestos-laden waste piles left near a local baseball field, to stories of cover-ups by W.R. Grace (the mine owners), and a town broken in the most literal sense of the word – the story should be a wake-up call for those of the very real dangers of this mineral.

The EPA has been waging a war in Libby, against a barely-visible killer that has already claimed at least 400 lives and sentences another 15-20 per month to near-certain death from increased asbestos exposure. Considering the town’s total population of 3,000, these results are nothing short of staggering.

Originally estimated to take two years at a cost of $5.8 million, the EPA’s cleanup effort is now at a decade with a cost of more than $330 million. And with asbestos continuing to show up in everything from schools, to trees (one tree near the W.R. Grace mine testing at 500 million asbestos fibers per gram of bark), inside of walls and beneath the soil – it seems such a cleanup effort won’t be ending anytime soon.

And perhaps the most poignant reminder this article puts forth and a reminder of why the work must not stop until asbestos is banned:

“No one has gone to jail for what happened in Libby.”

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Mesothelioma Diagnosis’ in Libby, Montana Expected to Rise

Posted by Emily in Asbestos Industry, Mesothelioma, Research on August 11, 2008

According to a recent report in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, an epidemic of mesothelioma will hit Libby, Montana in the next 10-20 years.  Dr. Alan Whitehouse, a pulmonologist focusing on asbestos disease treatment in Libby, wrote the report with input from four other doctors, including Dr. Brad Black of the Center for Asbestos Related Disease (CARD Clinic) in Libby.

Whitehouse, who joined the Card Clinic in 2004 to focus exclusively on asbestos victims, said, “The extent of the epidemic of environmental mesothelioma due to exposures based at Libby will probably not peak for another 10 to 20 years. This is a public health problem of considerable magnitude and points to the need for surveillance and early detection of the disease.”

Thus far, a total of 31 cases of malignant mesothelioma have been diagnosed in Libby residents. A significant number of these patients had no direct contact with the mine or mine workers, but merely were members of the community. In one case, a woman had no direct contact with the mine or mine workers, but her work was located 5 miles from the vermiculite mine. She reported that her car was covered in dust everyday. This exposure to asbestos dust eventually led to her mesothelioma diagnosis and subsequent death.

Between the 1940s-1970s, the vermiculite mine in Libby was operating at its highest capacity. Due to the long latency period between exposure to asbestos and a mesothelioma diagnosis, Libby residents are just now starting to be diagnosed with the disease and the numbers are expected to increase. According to Whitehouse, “The number of mesothelioma cases stemming from exposure in Libby likely has been underestimated because it’s been difficult to track the large number of workers who built the Libby dam project from 1966 to 1974. Large numbers of employees at the lumber mill in Libby also frequently were transitory workers.”

Libby is considered to have the highest mesothelioma rate in the United States. More than 200 asbestos deaths have been confirmed in Libby, and the CARD clinic is following about 2,000 additional asbestos cases. “This is the tip of the iceberg,” Whitehouse added. “God knows how many have been exposed. It could be a horrendous epidemic.”

Learn more about your mesothelioma legal options.

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“Libby, Montana” Documentary Nominated for an Emmy

Posted by Emily in Asbestos Exposure, Asbestos Industry, Videos on July 22, 2008

Awhile back we wrote about the documentary, “Libby, Montana” that aired on PBS. Since then, the documentary has garnered rave reviews for its intimacy, perception, sense of humor and mostly, for the genuine voice it gives the people of Libby. The documentary is now in the running for an Emmy in the “Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story—Long Form” category.

The film, made in 2004 by High Plains Films’ Doug Hawes Davis and Drury Gunn Carr is about the town that was brought to its knees by asbestos poisoning and then embroiled in the battles with W.R. Grace Corporation and the EPA that followed.

For more information on the documentary, click here.

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Vermiculite Found In Libby, Montana

Posted by Emily in Asbestos Industry on July 10, 2008

Last Tuesday, large chunks of vermiculite were found in the Riverfront Memorial park of Libby, Montana. How they got there, however, remains a mystery. While checking the area where a pavilion is to be built along the Kootenai River, Mike Cirian, remedial on-sight project manager with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, found a 6-inch wide, 50-yard long line of vermiculite. It was found in a high traffic area that follows the length of the parking lot near the boat ramp and pavilion building site. He immediately sent vac trucks to the area for emergency cleanup and informed the City of Libby as well as the Libby Police.

Cirian believes the chunks were too big to come from underground and they didn’t come off any of the contractors’ trucks doing the multi-million Superfund asbestos cleanup. “I’m pretty sure it’s been there less than a couple weeks,” Cirian said. “This isn’t something you miss. These are large flake, silver-dollar-sized chunks of vermiculite.” The vermiculite had been tracked up and down the parking lot by vehicles, creating a 12,000-square-foot of space to be cleaned of potential contamination.

The park, formerly the old Export Plant site, has been cleaned at least three times in the past. One was a removal action performed by W.R. Grace; the second occurred during the building of the boat ramp; and the third was the EPA’s cleanup of the park, digging down as far as 18 inches. “If — and the emphasis is on the word ‘if’ — somebody is purposely dumping contaminated vermiculite, it’s a really serious situation of endangering the public,” said Libby Mayor Tony Berget. “People could potentially kick up and inhale the dust containing the deadly fibers while driving through the parking lot.”

Two years ago, Environmental Restoration’s parking lot received a similar mysterious deposit of vermiculite. However, it was reported that no one intentionally put it there. Cirian hopes that it is the same this time as well. He said he can’t speculate as to how the vermiculite appeared, but hoped it was a costly mistake, not something done intentionally.

Libby police chief Clay Coker said they are opening an investigation into last week’s spill, and could potentially punish an assailant under a felony Criminal Mischief law, which includes vandalism or tampering with property to endanger or interfere with its use, with damages over $1,000.“In the future, if we identify the suspect, we’ll not only prosecute, we’ll hand it off to other appropriate federal agencies that would also prosecute.” At this point there are no known suspects but the law enforcement is on the lookout for any suspicious activity. Coker said, “If we see anyone moving around after hours, and lo and behold they have a bag of vermiculite on the seat, we will stop and identify them.”

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