EPA Files Suit for Access to Libby Asbestos Site

MISSOULA, Mont. - The Justice Department filed suit Sept. 14 on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) demanding unimpeded access to the former W.R. Grace & Co. vermiculite mine and plant in Libby, Mont. United States of America v. W.R. Grace and Kootenai Development Corporation, No. n/a (D. Mont., Missoula Div.).

In the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, the EPA asserts that the area around the mine poses a substantial danger to public health, welfare, and to the environment.

Over 80 years of vermiculite mining and production has heavily contaminated the …