Asbestos Inspection and Sampling Libby Montana 2004 USEPA

Extensive inspection and sampling for asbestos was conducted throughout the town before cleanup began. Processed vermiculite from the WR Grace Libby MT Mine contained tremolite, a form of asbestos, that found it's way into local homes and has caused hundreds of cases of asbestos-related disease in this small mountain town. Since November, 1999, the US EPA has cleaned up the major source areas of contamination around town. US EPA is now cleaning up smaller sources found in a variety of places such as around homes and businesses. EPA conducts stringent clearance sampling after cleanup and has begun some targeted sampling to measure the effectiveness of cleanup several months later. In February 2005, seven executives and managers of W. R. Grace were indicted on ten federal criminal counts of knowingly endangering residents of Libby, and concealing information about the health effects of its mining operations. The defendants are also accused of obstructing the government's cleanup efforts and wire fraud. For more and current information on the asbestos abatement work in Libby, go to the US EPA website at http://www.epa.gov/region8/superfund/libby/ . For more information about asbestos and the proposal to finally ban its use in the US, go to Senator Patty Murrays website http://murray.senate.gov/asbestos/index.cfm . This clip is from the 2004 US EPA video, Libby, Montana: An Asbestos Legacy. The entire video (11:30 minutes) is posted to GoogleVideo and can be viewed and downloaded at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6812852032323913573 . This video is from the ERTW website containing almost 100 free films of environmental cleanup and related issues http://www.ertvideo.org .

Category:

Education

Tags:

• asbestos
• tremolite
• vermiculite
• zonolite
• sampling
• testing
• inspection
• EPA
• OSHA
• industrial
• hygiene
• Libby
• Montana
• hazwoper