The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the completion of all required cleanup activities within a unit of a Montana Superfund site.
The federal agency removed a portion of an asbestos-contaminated mining operation in Libby from its National Priorities List, The Flathead Beacon reported Tuesday.
Hundreds of people died and thousands became ill during more than six decades of exposure to asbestos from the former W.R. Grace and Co. vermiculite mine in Northwest Montana. Workers mined asbestos-laced ore and carried the dust home on their clothes.
The site was placed on the EPA’s priorities list in 2002 resulting from high levels of asbestos in and around the communities of Libby and Troy. The site is divided into eight operable units.
Removing the operational area that includes a former export plant from the EPA list is a significant step in the effort to undo the contamination, officials said.
The area also includes Libby’s Riverfront Park and the embankments of Montana Highway 37.
Last year, federal and state officials removed a separate operational unit from the Superfund list, determining cleanup activities were complete at a former screening plant on the Kootenai River north of Libby.
Topics Training Development Pollution Montana
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