Montana governor Steve Bullock has called on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide toxicity reports that are needed before a long-overdue asbestos cleanup project can begin. The governor is the latest official to speak out about the EPA’s regrettable pace; in August, Libby mayor Doug Roll expressed his discontent at an EPA plan that “raise[d] red flags.”
The EPA first began investigating the asbestos situation in Libby in 1999, almost a decade after the closure of W.R. Grace and Co., the company responsible for exposing Libby residents to the harmful toxin via its vermiculite mine and production facility.
“The community of Libby has been waiting for 15 years for a final cleanup plan, and it is time to provide [them] certainty regarding the proposed cleanup,” said Governor Bullock in a recent letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. “Right now, the risk assessment, feasibility study, proposed plan, and Record of Decision all are waiting upon issuance of the toxicity values for Libby Asbestos Amphibole before these documents can be completed.”
Libby became one of several Superfund sites after the EPA discovered that throughout the years, W.R. Grace’s vermiculite mine and production facility had exposed hundreds of the community’s residents to asbestos, causing numerous illnesses and deaths. Airborne asbestos can be extremely detrimental to respiratory health, which is why the mineral, once popular in a variety of industries, was banned in the 1970s. Asbestos exposure can even lead to the development of cancer; it is the primary cause of mesothelioma.
Since the area was declared a public health emergency in 2009, more than 1,700 homes and properties have been cleaned of vermiculite deposits, and 1.2 million tons of asbestos-containing soil has been removed. The work done has thus far cost approximately $447 million, and there are several hundred more properties in need of cleanup. The outstanding toxicity reports, those that Governor Bullock has requested, will shed light on the cleanup effort’s effectiveness.
Powered by WPeMatico