Montana DEQ to decontaminate mesothelioma-causing asbestos soilThe Western News; Troy, Montana - The Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) plans to bury asbestos-contaminated soil from Troy, Montana at a local landfill. This proposal would save the DEQ $1 million in transportation costs, as opposed to trucking the contaminated soil from Troy to the former vermiculite mine at Libby. An estimated 36,000 cubic yards of asbestos-laced soil lurks throughout various Troy properties, and removal will begin sometime this summer.
"As far as I know and what they tell us, it's perfectly safe and we have nothing to worry about," Troy Mayor Don Banning said of the DEQ's proposal. "Until everything gets out on the table, we really won't know yet, but we should be able to make that decision real soon."
Asbestos exposure is conclusively linked to the development of mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer. The disease typically lies dormant for up to fifty years before an individual begins to suffer from mesothelioma symptoms, and the majority of patients lose their battle with this cancer in less than two years following diagnosis. Exposure to asbestos can also cause benign scarring of the lungs and chronic respiratory ailments.
According to DEQ's Catherine LeCours, remedial project manager for Troy, the soil in question contains only trace amounts of asbestos. "We're speaking very low levels," she said. "We have nothing that would compare to the levels found in Libby."
"It looks like it may be a good option to save money for DEQ and a benefit to us," City Council member Loretta Jones stated to reporters. "All of those things sound reasonable to me."
