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W.R. Grace buys its old Libby mine, then bans EPA investigators from it
Tuesday, July 25, 2000
By ANDREW SCHNEIDER
The abandoned mine that caused the deaths and illnesses of hundreds of miners and their families in Libby, Mont., has been bought again by its longtime owner, W.R. Grace & Co.
Immediately after the purchase last week, Grace banned Environmental Protection Agency investigators from the asbestos-contaminated site.
As EPA lawyers examine their options for regaining access to the site, the agency's health experts are warning everyone who lived in Libby while the mine was open that they may have been exposed to harmful amounts of asbestos.
"We believe these were not isolated instances and that during dry weather, during weather inversions over Libby and during periods of high production at the mine or processing areas, asbestos fiber counts could have been much higher," the EPA notifications said.
"Therefore it is clear," the public announcements continued, "that a person was likely exposed to asbestos fibers simply by living in Libby."
The notice urged anyone living in Libby for more than six months prior to Jan. 31, 1990, to get tested for asbestos-related disease by their family physicians or at a free screening clinic operated by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
"We're running the notifications because we believe that asbestos exposure from the mine might have reached far more people than originally believed," says Paul Peronard, who has been coordinating the EPA's emergency response team in Libby since the week after the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported the health problems in November.
"Too many people view this as a problem for the miners at the old vermiculite operation," Peronard says. "Too many people believe the only ones getting sick and dying are the people who worked there. That clearly is not the case. We need to get everyone who lived in the area when the mine operated in for testing."
The P-I reported last year that dozens of miners' family members were killed or sickened by asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma. Many more have since been added to the casualty list by the EPA and other government researchers.
The Lincoln County Health Department in Libby reported last week that medical screening, started only recently, has already identified 48 non-occupational cases, the majority of them in families of miners. Of greater concern to Peronard's team and the other health investigators is that 18 of those cases were people who had no family connection to the mine.
"These 18 look like their exposure may have come from just living in Libby, and that's why we want everyone examined," Peronard says. "There is a lot about that old vermiculite mine that we don't know."
For nearly six decades, the mine was the nation's largest producer of vermiculite. The processed ore, called Zonolite, was used in insulation, lawn and garden products and fireproofing. Millions of tons of the ore was shipped across the country for processing at hundreds of plants. At several of the plants, the P-I found that the work force had been decimated by asbestos-related disease. The EPA is investigating all of the plants to see whether an asbestos hazard remains.
Grace closed the Libby mine in 1990, and three years later sold the property to Kootenai Development Corp., which planned to develop the land into a hunting reserve and someday, the owners said, a housing development.
Grace's action banning EPA from "old Zonolite Mountain" and the other areas it repurchased is frustrating the agency's efforts to complete the cleanup of asbestos, Peronard says.
The move by Grace was surprising to some in light of the fact that the company has repeatedly said it "takes its responsibility to the people of Libby seriously" and "will do everything possible to expedite the cleanup."
Last Friday, just days after Grace took ownership of the Kootenai Development Corp. property, the EPA received a letter from Grace's lawyer David Cleary. The letter said: ". . . the USEPA and its representatives, contractors, agents or guests are hereby forbidden from entering any KDC property."
William Corcoran, Grace's vice president for public and regulatory affairs, says Grace ordered the federal agents from the mine because the company received a letter from the EPA that it didn't like or understand.
"They sent us a letter the day before (we issued the ban) saying we had 24 hours to sign some sort of an agreement to give them access to the site and we didn't know what that meant," Corcoran said. "So we said, 'We're not going to sign your letters.' We want to know what access means."
The EPA letter to which Grace took umbrage appears fairly clear as government documents go. It told Grace, the company responsible for the asbestos contamination, that the EPA wants to enter the mine to sample the soil, water and air and any other material disposed of on the site. It wants to store the asbestos-contaminated soil from the old Grace sites in town and elsewhere on the mine property and take "other actions deemed necessary to protect human health and the environment."
Peronard said there was nothing complex in the letter.
"We still have a lot of investigative work to do up there to determine the risk that the mine site poses," he said. "We're still trying to answer the question of whether asbestos is still leaving the site. Is it blowing around up there? How far out does the asbestos contamination occur? We have a lot of work to do and the mine is the heart of the problem."
Kenneth Lund, a lawyer representing KDC/Grace, wrote to the EPA saying the agency could take the asbestos-contaminated soil and haul it to a hazardous-waste disposal facility in Spokane, or pay the company to dump it on the old mine property.
Peronard's only comment was, "We're not going to pay Grace a penny."
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
In newspaper ads and radio broadcasts, the EPA cited tests for asbestos in the air taken by Grace in 1975 and for the EPA in 1980. Both tests showed high levels of asbestos in the center of the northwestern Montana town, six miles from the mine. The tests were done during rainy conditions, which could actually reduce the amount of asbestos fibers in the air.
P-I senior national correspondent Andrew Schneider can be reached at andrewschneider@seattle-pi.com or 206-448-8218.
Day 1
· A town left to die
· It all started with the search for gold
· The History of W.R. Grace Co.
· Dangers of asbestos exposure
· Known deaths from tremolite from Libby mine (graphic)
Day 2
· While people are dying, government agencies pass buck
· 'No one ever told us that stuff could kill you'
· Libby's lost miners: A gallery
· Group organizes to help victims
(newest at top)
· W.R. Grace to pay record Superfund fine
· Finally, asbestos-plagued Libby, Mont., to get help
· Up to 30% tested in Libby hurt by asbestos
· W.R. Grace files for bankruptcy
· Labor Dept. enters Libby's asbestos fight
· Why did dying miners get no help?
· Health warning on attic asbestos
· W.R. Grace buys its old Libby mine, then bans EPA investigators from it
· Grace backs off pledge to clean up asbestos
· Grace sends papers to EPA -- reportedly tainted
· A small group of physicians is trying to change the course of asbestos-induced disease
· One victim's story: '(I) couldn't get a breath; it scared me to death almost' · Horseman in the race of his life
· Class-action suit targets Grace Co., insulation
· Mine-safety agency takes action
· Immediate cleanup sought in mining town
· Grace to pick up medical bills in tainted town
· Asbestos study is expanded nationwide
· Deadly ore was shipped around U.S., Canada
· Just 23 months hauling ore--and it killed him 36 years later
· Finally, asbestos victims have their say
· Initial tests reveal areas of asbestos in and around Libby
· Montana's governor knows asbestos danger
· State, federal authorities sending teams to Montana mining town
· Editorial: Libby folks must get some answers
· EPA sues for access to Libby vermiculite mine
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