WASHINGTON - Montana Sen. Max Baucus Thursday took the Environmental Protection Agency to task for continually missing asbestos while cleaning up Libby.Susan Bodine, assistant EPA administrator for Superfund cleanup, was a panelist at a hearing of the Environment and Public Works Committee focusing on cleaning up sites like Libby.
“I hope to impress upon you just how important it is that the EPA gets the cleanup in Libby right,” Baucus told Bodine. “I’ve been to Libby 18 times since 2000 and every time I go, the devastation is worse and worse. More people are sick and dying. Helping the people of Libby is a very personal fight for me. I want to do all I can to get Libby residents the help they need and deserve. It’s the right thing to do for both the victims and the future generations we can still protect.”
Cleanup has been under way since 1999. Last week workers were digging a waterline and discovered a patch of tremolite asbestos. Baucus said this patch of land had been declared clear and safe by the EPA.
“I was completely outraged to learn just last week the workers digging a waterline discovered a patch of tremolite asbestos near the surface … on a site that was supposed to have been cleaned up - not once but twice - the first time by W.R. Grace and the second time by the EPA itself,” Baucus said. “It’s totally unacceptable. Given such outrageous failures, how can the EPA ever assure folks that it is safe to rebuild houses?
“All Libby residents deserve better,” Baucus said to Bodine. “EPA needs to make Libby, Montana, one of its top priorities. People are sick and dying and they need our help. I strongly urge the EPA to do their part and help to right the wrong that has been committed.”
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