Montana has been particularly hard hit by asbestos and the diseases it causes, such as asbestosis and mesothelioma. In the small town of Libby, more than 300 people have died from asbestos related complications, which is astonishingly high for a town of less than 3,000 residents. To honor those in Libby and elsewhere who have felt the direct effects of asbestos exposure, Montana Senator Max Baucus has successfully rallied his colleagues in Washington and passed a resolution designating the first week of April as “Asbestos Awareness Week” here in the United States. more...As reported by Associated Press, those who have lived in the town of Libby, MT for the last few decades have seen around 400 people die and an additional 1,750 suffer from asbestos-related diseases like mesothelioma cancer and asbestosis. Emotions and anxiety ran high recently when it was discovered the struggle is not yet over. This week, it was revealed that two giant piles of bark and wood chips that have sat on the edge of town for years are contaminated with an unknown level of asbestos. Residents have been helping themselves to truckload after more...Libby, Montana has long been considered the most notorious, asbestos-plagued town in the U.S. For decades, a W.R. Grace & Co. vermiculite mine blanketed the town with toxic dust, exposing a huge number of residents to asbestos and unknowingly putting innocent families at great risk for developing asbestos-related diseases like mesothelioma and asbestosis. While the mine closed in 1990, its deadly legacy remains. Libby has since been named one of the largest and deadliest Superfund sites by the Environmental Protection Agency, and the government cleanup of the town has lasted more than a decade and cost more than $370 million. more...For decades people have been aware of the dangers of asbestos, but recent reports are beginning to suggest that there a is new mineral posing a similar public health hazard to the United States. Erionite, the mesothelioma-causing rock once thought to be only native to Turkey, has been found in large deposits throughout the western part of the U.S. Gravel that has been contaminated with erionite has been used for decades to pave a variety of things from roads to parking lots and public areas. Unfortunately, these findings beg the question: are we on the brink of another outbreak of asbestos-related more...Last week, Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Senator Max Baucus, D-Mont., met with residents of asbestos-ravaged Libby, MT to discuss how the recently passed health care reform law has been helping the large number of victims of asbestos-related diseases who live in the community. The ongoing, decade-long crisis in Libby is a result of a nearby asbestos mine contaminating the town and sickening thousands of residents. Since Libby is the only town is in the country currently designated as a public health emergency site by the EPA, a provision was added to the new health care law that allows more...