Posts Tagged ‘EPA’

Last week the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) declared the first ever public health emergency under the Superfund law, which was passed in 1980 to govern sites that have been contaminated by hazardous materials. The emergency was declared in Libby, a small town in Montana which has been exposed to large amounts of asbestos for decades. The asbestos came from a contaminated vermiculite mine and the waste produced by local vermiculite processing plants. The EPA pledged to spend $125 million on decontamination efforts, in addition to the $250 million promised by the mine’s owner, W.R. Grace & Company.

Many residents of Libby and the surrounding area have suffered serious health problems from asbestos exposure. Hundreds of residents suffer from lung problems and diseases, and asbestos-related illnesses have been blamed for at least 200 deaths since the late 1990s. The town has 40 to 80 times the national average of asbestos-related deaths. Residents were primarily exposed through dust emitted into the air by vermiculite processing plants and mine waste used in construction projects throughout the town, although some individuals were directly exposed when working in the mine or plants. Read more about asbestos work exposure and asbestos-related illness.