The state of Montana entered the next step of remediation plans with the inaugural meeting of the Libby Asbestos Superfund Advisory Team last week. (more…)

Credit: EPA

What happens when a former asbestos mine catches on fire? It’s a question those fighting fires nearing Libby, Montana, the home of the former W.R. Grace & Co. asbestos mine, have had to address this week. News reports earlier this week discussed concerns the nearing West Fork Fire was causing due to its proximity to the mine and potential to release amounts of asbestos into the air. (more…)

Last week a town in Montana plagued by asbestos-related diseases received some welcome news. U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) announced last week the Center for Asbestos Related Disease (CARD) Clinic will receive $2,499,999 for asbestos health screenings. (more…)

The deadline for Libby, Montana, residents to request asbestos cleanup on their properties has come and gone. March 31 was the end of the Environmental Protection Agency’s “last call” for residents in Libby and surrounding Lincoln County to put their properties’ asbestos remediation on the EPA’s tab, according to the Flathead Beacon.

Libby was home to an asbestos-contaminated vermiculite mine from 1963 to 1990, and the EPA has been conducting asbestos cleanup in the surrounding area since it was declared a Superfund site in the early 2000s. The EPA has been wrapping up its final push to get residents to sign access agreements so the agency can investigate and/or remediate remaining properties. (more…)

Since 2005, the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization’s (ADAO) annual International Asbestos Awareness and Prevention Conference has brought together more than 300 speakers from 14 different countries to speak about joint efforts in education, advocacy and awareness.

This year’s event, to be held April 7-9, 2107, at the Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel in Arlington, Virginia, is set to add to those numbers with doctors, scientists, experts, advocates and victims gathering to help prevent and eliminate asbestos-causing diseases. (more…)

Last week more than 1,000 workers, family members and community members sickened by a vermiculite mine near Libby, Montana, settled with the state of Montana for a total of $25 million.

The Flathead Beacon reports the settlements stem from nearly 100 lawsuits, each involving multiple claimants, brought against the state for failing to warn citizens of the hazards of the asbestos-contaminated W.R. Grace and Co. mine, which operated for decades outside of the town. The recent settlements follow another in 2011 for $43 million. The recent plaintiffs had not been diagnosed when the 2011 settlement with the state was reached. (more…)

In 2009, Edwin Moreau died of asbestos-related lung cancer after working at W.R. Grace Mine in Libby, Mont., for almost 30 years. Since he became ill, his wife, Cristita Moreau, has been battling to secure her husband’s benefits to cover his medical expenses. Initially, her claim for occupational disease benefits was refused by Transportation Insurance, W.R. Grace’s company covering claims from sick workers. In 2010, Moreau filed a petition with the Workman’s Compensation Court, which resulted in a settlement in 2013. (more…)

A team of geologists from the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) are examining an area in Southern Nevada where naturally occurring asbestos fibers have been discovered in rocks and dust. The area under investigation stretches from Boulder City to the southeastern edge of the Las Vegas Valley, which encompasses about 1,200 square miles. (more…)

Despite initial promises to deliver its Human Health Risk Assessment of the Libby, Mont., asbestos Superfund cleanup site in 2005, last week representatives of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said the final report would not be ready until late 2014. Residents of Libby have been struggling for more than a decade to recover from massive amphibole asbestos contamination that likely caused the deaths and serious illnesses of hundreds of residents. (more…)

A new feasibility study examines the possibility of logging some 35,000 acres of timber surrounding the town of Libby, Montana. Libby is the site of the former W.R. Grace & Co. vermiculite asbestos mine, and now the largest and most deadly Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund cleanup site in the United States. (more…)