EPA to Do More Asbestos Testing in Libby

December 14, 2006 - A report in the Great Falls (MT) Tribune states that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intends to return to Libby, Montana to conduct further testing to determine the effectiveness of its asbestos clean-up.

This announcement by the EPA comes on the heels of last week’s statement by the agency’s inspector general, which stated that “the EPA needs to do more testing to be certain its asbestos cleanup reduces the risk that Libby residents may become ill or sicker from asbestos contamination.”  Libby was deemed a Superfund site in 1999, shortly after the EPA first arrived on the scene to investigate alleged asbestos concerns.

The agency has told Montana Senator Max Baucus that they will conduct an asbestos toxicity study within the next month-and-a-half.  According to the Department of Health and Human Services, this study will “collect data to determine ways in which exposure can occur and the potential of the contaminants to cause harmful effects to people.” It will also calculate the risk to people already exposed to this harmful material.  The test had been recommended several years ago but never completed.

To date, more than 200 Libby residents from died from asbestos-related diseases and one in every eight people who live there have been sickened in some way due to asbestos exposure.  That includes community members, not just those who worked at the W.R. Grace vermiculite mine, the cause of all the contamination.

“It’s beyond me why it took an investigation to get EPA to do the right thing for Libby,” Baucus said, adding that he is pleased to see the agency moving swiftly to correct the situation.