Carcinogenic asbestos remains a hot topic in Libby, MontanaLibby, Montana - Asbestos is a hot button issue in Libby, Montana, as hundreds in the community have died from asbestos-related illnesses like asbestosis and mesothelioma. The EPA declared Libby the site of a public health emergency earlier this year, and the community leads the nation in the highest number of certain forms of asbestos-related illnesses.
These illnesses include mesothelioma, a rare cancer of the lungs and/or abdomen, which may take decades to develop and can kill within weeks or months of the onset of mesothelioma symptoms.
Last week, officials from the EPA met with locals to discuss the risk assessment process and the science of current toxicity studies. And while that issue was weighing heavily on the minds of many Libby residents, many were concerned about another asbestos-related issue: Records of Decision.
Former asbestos storage and handling facilities in the area that have been designated Operable Units 1 and 2 have been linked to Records of Decision, and the EPA wants to begin cleanup of these sites early in 2010. But residents are concerned that the Records of Decision were arrived at too hastily, and that the EPA will not return to do additional cleanup in the future if it is later found that the cleanup methods are inadequate.
"We feel, in a way, we're being pushed toward a Record of Decision that may limit our options later on," Abe Troyer said during the Q-and-A portion of the meeting. "We'd like to hear more about that I think."
"If we find out later that there might be a significantly higher toxicity component to our fiber here," Troyer added, "do we still have the opportunity to get a (new) calculation later on into our O&M (Operations and Maintenance fund) and everything else that is going on?"
