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EPA Declares Public Health Emergency In Montana

Asbestos illnesses prompt first-ever declaration

By Mark Huffman
ConsumerAffairs.com

June 18, 2009

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has declared that a public health emergency exists at the Libby asbestos site in northwest Montana. It's the first time the agency has declared such a condition.

Over the past years, hundreds of asbestos-related disease cases have been documented in this small community, which covers the towns of Libby and Troy, according to EPA. The announcement was made by Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and U.S. Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester.

The declaration "recognizes the serious impact to the public health from the contamination at Libby and underscores the need for further action and health care for area residents who have been or may be exposed to asbestos," the agency said.

Investigations performed by the Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry have found the incidence of occurrence of asbestosis, a lung condition, in the Libby area staggeringly higher than the national average for the period from 1979-1998. EPA said it is working closely with the Department of Health and Human Services, which is making available a short-term grant to provide needed asbestos-related medical care to Libby and Troy residents.

During her Senate confirmation hearing, EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson committed to review the situation at the Libby asbestos site based on current site information, sound science and EPA’s legal authorities. As a result of her review, the Administrator has decided that conditions at the site present a significant threat to public health and that making a public health emergency determination is appropriate.

"This is a tragic public health situation that has not received the recognition it deserves by the federal government for far too long. We're making a long-delayed commitment to the people of Libby and Troy. Based on a rigorous re-evaluation of the situation on the ground, we will continue to move aggressively on the cleanup efforts and protect the health of the people," Jackson said. "We're here to help create a long and prosperous future for this town."

Sebelius credited the two Montana lawmakers with pushing the issue to the forefront.

"They refused to give up on finding the best ways to help those who have suffered so much," she said.

The Libby asbestos site has been on the EPA's Superfund National Priorities List since 2002, and cleanup has taken place since 2000. EPA said it has made progress in helping to remove the threat of asbestos in the land and air, and with it, the increased risks of lung cancer, asbestosis, and other respiratory problems. While EPA's cleanup efforts have greatly reduced exposure, actual and potential releases of amphibole asbestos remain a significant threat to public health in that area, the agency said.

The Libby asbestos site includes portions of the towns of Libby and Troy and an inactive vermiculite mine seven miles northeast of the town. Gold miners discovered vermiculite in Libby in 1881; in the 1920s the Zonolite Company formed and began mining the vermiculite. In 1963, W.R. Grace bought the Zonolite mining operations. The mine closed in 1990. It is estimated that the Libby mine was the source of over 70 percent of all vermiculite sold in the United States from 1919 to 1990.

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