Before 1999, the tiny town of Libby, Montana \u2014 population less than 3,000 in the far northwest corner of the state \u2014 ranked unknown to most Americans.<\/p>\n
That all changed 20 years ago when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finally responded to cries from local citizens to take notice of the tragedy devastating their community.<\/p>\n
Now, residents reflect on the immense loss that friends, family, and neighbors have experienced as a result of what they describe as greed and indifference by big business \u2014 and what the EPA declared a Public Health Emergency.<\/p>\n
Jinnifer Mariman grew up in Libby. Now, she\u2019s an attorney for a law firm that has handled much of the litigation associated with the disaster involving the W.R. Grace & Co. vermiculite mine that spewed asbestos all over the rural community poisoning its inhabitants for decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was glad I was sitting down the first time I read the names. It wasn\u2019t just a client list, it was my hometown,\u201d said Mariman referring to when she first began her work with the local law firm.<\/p>\n
According to the Great Falls Tribune, it\u2019s unknown exactly how many have died as a result of the catastrophe, but at least 400 deaths have been documented. And more than 2,400 residents have been diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases<\/a>.<\/p>\n This includes Mariman\u2019s school teacher, her dad\u2019s longtime friend, another family friend, a few classmates, and a neighbor.<\/p>\n While over 2,000 Libby residents have filed suit with Mariman\u2019s law firm over the last 25 years, she expresses that financial retribution is only a small consolation.<\/p>\n \u201cUsually what we can recover is money, but no amount of money is going to make your lungs work better. There is no amount of money that is going to bring your loved ones back,\u201d she said.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n No one knows this better than Gayla Benefield.<\/p>\n She lost both her parents and her husband to an asbestos-related disease and is on oxygen for her own diagnosis. Four out of her five children also suffer from asbestos-related diseases.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m almost numb to losing people now,\u201d she admits.<\/p>\n The town has Benefield to thank for getting the story of what was happening in Libby to the outside world in 1999. She worked with Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Andrew Schneider who wrote expos\u00e9s revealing the width and breadth of a disaster that enveloped an entire town.<\/p>\n Gold miners first discovered vermiculite in Libby in 1881, but it wasn\u2019t until the 1920s that the Zolonlite Company began mining the substance.<\/p>\n W.R. Grace purchased the mine in 1963 and at its peak produced a whopping 80% of the world\u2019s supply of vermiculite, which is used prolifically in building insulation and as a soil conditioner.<\/p>\n While the mining operation proved a boon for Libby, providing industry and jobs for the tiny hamlet and its residents, the vermiculite that laid deep below the surface in Lincoln County resided with another substance \u2014 one that was lethal.<\/p>\nLibby, Montana Asbestos Catastrophe Overview<\/h2>\n