Tester calls on fed agencies to come together over Libby asbestos problem
The small town of Libby, Montana has been dealing with high levels of asbestos contamination for decades. Asbestos was disbursed throughout the town from W.R. Grace’s vermiculite mining operations. The vermiculite ore was contaminated with tremolite asbestos.
Cleanup of the area has been a long-term project of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The goal of the cleanup is to make Libby safe again. However, it is the job of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to determine when the asbestos contamination has been dealt with and no longer poses a risk to the residents of Libby.
The EPA has spent a decade working in Libby on asbestos cleanup and health research. But when Senator Jon Tester of Montana asked EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson “how clean is clean” in terms of asbestos contamination, she referred him to the DHHS.
Sen. Tester is calling on the two agencies to work more closely together. He wants increased communication and more formal coordination of the two agencies’ efforts in Libby.
In Libby, Montana, a town of just a few thousand, hundreds have already died of asbestos-related diseases like mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis.
For the full story, go to The Missoulian.
