Libby, Montana: The Asbestos Tragedy

Libby, Montana, sits in a valley in the northwestern corner of the state, surrounded by forests and mountains that seem designed for postcards. For most of the 20th century, it was a logging town that happened to have another significant industry: a vermiculite mine on Zonolite Mountain.

The vermiculite from Libby was prized nationwide. When processed, it expanded into a lightweight, fire-resistant material used for insulation, gardening, and construction. It was marketed under brand names like Zonolite and was used in millions of homes.

What the residents of Libby did not know—what the mining company worked to conceal—was that the vermiculite was laced with asbestos. For decades, the mine showered the town with toxic dust. Children played in piles of vermiculite tailings. Families hung laundry that collected the fibers. Workers came home covered in dust that would eventually kill them.

Libby is now one of the worst environmental disasters in American history. The toll is measured in hundreds of deaths, thousands of diagnoses, and a town that may never fully recover.

The Geology of Disaster

Vermiculite is a mineral that expands dramatically when heated, creating a lightweight material with excellent insulating properties. The deposit at Libby was among the richest in the world.

But the vermiculite at Libby shared geological space with tremolite asbestos—not ordinary chrysotile asbestos, which is harmful enough, but a particularly toxic amphibole variety that would later be named Libby Amphibole. The fibers were intermingled with the vermiculite ore in ways that made separation impossible.

When vermiculite was mined, processed, and shipped, asbestos went with it. The expansion plants that processed the ore released clouds of dust. The trucks that transported the material shed fibers along the roads. The trains that carried it to markets across the country spread contamination along the routes.

By the time the mine closed in 1990, Libby Amphibole had spread throughout the town and to processing facilities in 28 states.

Corporate Knowledge and Concealment

W.R. Grace & Company purchased the Libby operation in 1963 from the Zonolite Company. Internal documents later revealed in litigation show that Grace knew about the asbestos contamination and its health effects almost immediately.

1960s: Grace’s own industrial hygiene studies document dangerous dust levels at the mine and processing facilities. The company’s medical staff tracks elevated rates of lung disease among workers.

1970s: As federal regulators begin paying attention to asbestos hazards, Grace works to minimize scrutiny of the Libby operation. The company characterizes the tremolite contamination as minimal, despite internal evidence to the contrary.

1980s: Workers continue to develop asbestosis and other diseases at alarming rates. Grace settles lawsuits quietly, requiring confidentiality agreements that prevent plaintiffs from warning others.

Throughout this period, Grace took no meaningful steps to warn the community of Libby about the dust that settled on their homes, yards, and children.

The Exposure Pathways

What made Libby unique among asbestos disasters was the breadth of exposure. This was not a case of workers being harmed in a factory while the surrounding community remained safe. In Libby, virtually everyone was exposed.

Occupational exposure: Mine workers faced the highest concentrations, but so did workers at the processing plant, truck drivers who transported ore, and railroad workers who loaded and unloaded the material.

Paraoccupational exposure: Workers brought contaminated clothing home, exposing family members who washed the clothes or simply lived in the same house. This secondary exposure has caused numerous cases of mesothelioma among people who never worked at the mine.

Environmental exposure: The mine’s operations created dust that spread throughout the valley. The expansion plant emitted visible clouds. Tailings piles were left accessible, and children treated them as playgrounds. Vermiculite waste was distributed free to residents for use in gardens, driveways, and under skating rinks.

Community contamination: Processing waste was used throughout Libby—as fill dirt, as insulation in buildings, as material for the high school running track. Residents who never approached the mine were still exposed.

The Death Toll

Counting Libby’s victims is difficult because of the long latency period of asbestos-related diseases and because many former residents have scattered across the country. But the numbers that have been documented are staggering.

As of 2024:

• Over 400 Libby residents have died from asbestos-related diseases
• More than 3,000 have been diagnosed with asbestos-related conditions
• Hundreds of additional cases continue to be diagnosed each year

The diseases include:

• Asbestosis: Progressive lung scarring that makes breathing increasingly difficult
• Mesothelioma: Aggressive cancer of the lung or abdominal lining
• Lung cancer: Elevated rates among those exposed
• Pleural diseases: Thickening and scarring of the lung lining

In a town that peaked at fewer than 20,000 residents, these numbers represent a catastrophe affecting nearly every family.

EPA Involvement and Public Health Emergency

The federal government’s response to Libby began in 1999, when reporters from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer published an investigative series documenting the contamination. The EPA began investigating shortly after.

In 2002, the Libby site was added to the Superfund National Priorities List, making it eligible for federal cleanup funding. The site was divided into eight “operable units” covering different contaminated areas:

1. Export plant property
2. Screening plant property
3. Zonolite Mountain Mine
4. Town of Libby
5. Former Stimson Lumber Company property
6. BNSF railroad property
7. City of Troy (a nearby community)
8. Highway corridors

In 2009, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson declared a public health emergency in Libby—the first time the agency had ever used this authority. The declaration made Libby residents eligible for healthcare assistance through a special provision of the federal government.

The BNSF Railroad Cases

While W.R. Grace operated the mine, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway transported the contaminated vermiculite. The railroad’s role has become the subject of extensive litigation.

In 2020, the Montana Supreme Court ruled that BNSF could be held liable for spreading asbestos along its tracks when the railroad shipped Libby vermiculite across the country. Common carriers like railroads normally have some protection from state liability laws, but the court found this protection did not extend to the manner in which BNSF handled the material.

Since that ruling, one case has gone to trial. In 2024, a Montana federal court awarded $4 million each to the estates of Tom Wells and Joyce Walder, both of whom died of mesothelioma in 2020. BNSF has appealed.

As of late 2024, 210 pending cases represent 388 people who claim exposure from BNSF’s operations. A ruling from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals could determine whether these cases can proceed.

The CARD Clinic Crisis

For years, the Center for Asbestos-Related Disease (CARD) provided screening and treatment for Libby residents exposed to asbestos. The clinic was a lifeline for a community with limited healthcare options.

In May 2024, the CARD clinic was forced to close its doors—not because of funding problems, but because of litigation. BNSF had sued the clinic in 2019 under the False Claims Act, alleging that CARD had defrauded the government by erroneously diagnosing patients.

A court judgment in favor of BNSF allowed the railroad to seize CARD’s assets to collect on the verdict. The clinic’s closure left Libby residents without their primary source of asbestos-related healthcare.

The case has moved to federal court, where a judge will determine whether BNSF can permanently claim CARD’s assets. Meanwhile, patients must travel to receive the screening and treatment they previously received locally.

W.R. Grace Bankruptcy and Settlement

W.R. Grace filed for bankruptcy in 2001, citing asbestos liability. The bankruptcy proceeding lasted 13 years—one of the longest in American history.

In 2014, Grace emerged from bankruptcy with a reorganization plan that included establishment of trusts to pay asbestos claims. The company and its insurers funded the trusts with approximately $4 billion.

In 2023, the State of Montana reached a separate settlement with Grace that resolved outstanding natural resource damage claims. The settlement provided $18.5 million for restoration of damaged natural resources in the Libby area, payable over 10 years.

Criminal charges against Grace and several executives were filed in 2005, alleging conspiracy to conceal information about the health hazards at Libby. In 2009, after a lengthy trial, a federal jury acquitted all defendants—a verdict that surprised many observers but reflected the difficulty of proving criminal intent in environmental cases.

Ongoing Cleanup

The EPA cleanup of Libby has cost over $600 million and continues today. Work has included:

• Removing contaminated soil from yards and public spaces
• Cleaning or demolishing buildings where vermiculite insulation was present
• Capping and containing waste at the mine site
• Monitoring air quality throughout the region

The EPA expects to issue a Record of Decision for the remaining cleanup work in 2026. But even when active cleanup ends, monitoring and institutional controls will continue indefinitely. Libby Amphibole remains in the environment—in soils that cannot be completely remediated, in buildings that have not yet been cleaned, in the bodies of residents who were exposed decades ago.

Lessons from Libby

The Libby disaster offers several lessons for environmental and public health policy:

Community exposure matters: Traditional occupational health approaches focus on worker protection. Libby demonstrated that industrial operations can harm entire communities through environmental contamination, secondary exposure, and the distribution of hazardous materials.

Corporate concealment delays intervention: W.R. Grace knew about the hazards at Libby for decades before the federal government became involved. Earlier disclosure could have prevented many exposures.

Regulatory gaps have consequences: Despite existing asbestos regulations, the Libby mine operated for decades without adequate oversight. The EPA’s Superfund authority proved essential but was invoked too late to prevent the disaster.

Healthcare access is critical: The CARD clinic’s forced closure demonstrates how litigation can interfere with healthcare delivery. Libby residents now face barriers to care that compound the harms they have already suffered.

For residents of Libby and the thousands of others exposed to vermiculite from the mine, the disaster is not history. New diagnoses continue to appear. Families continue to lose members to diseases contracted decades ago. And the cleanup continues, a reminder of what was lost when a small Montana town’s prosperity turned out to be poisoned.