Faulty EPA asbestos investigations and cleanup at vermiculite processing plants compounded by failure to warn consumers about asbestos danger from vermiculite insulation in their homes
An upcoming Government Accountability Office (GAO) report to Congress is expected to strongly criticize the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) investigation and cleanup of vermiculite processing plants around the country. Hundreds of these plants took asbestos-contaminated vermiculite from W.R. Grace’s mine in Libby, Montana and “popped” or expanded the vermiculite to make insulation. The GOA report is expected to accuse the EPA of applying improper criteria in its investigations, leading to a gross underestimate of the asbestos health risk to employees and people living near the plants. Public health specialists say that the report does not address the EPA’s failure to warn consumers that vermiculite insulation in their homes may expose them to asbestos–which is known to cause cancer, including mesothelioma. As many as 35 million homeowners have potential exposure to asbestos from vermiculite insulation in their own homes, and the EPA said nothing, allege public health officials like U.S. Public Health physician Dr. Aubrey Miller. Dr. Miller says that the risk are “enormous” if the insulation is disturbed, causing it to release asbestos fibers into the air.
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