AP 15dec00
HELENA, Mont. -- The death rate from asbestos-related illnesses in the Montana town of Libby -- the site of an asbestos-contaminated vermiculite mine -- is 40 times the state average and 60 times higher than the national average, a federal study found.
The study by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry was prompted by fears that the now-closed mine sickened miners and residents of the town. Vermiculite is used mainly in insulation and potting soil.
Based on a review of all 419 death certificates from 1979 to 1998 in Libby, the study found 11 deaths from the lung disease asbestosis in the community of 2,500 and four cancer deaths that may have been related to asbestos.
``Some groups were not convinced that Libby had a problem,'' Dr. Rubina Imtiaz, the study's co-author, said Friday. ``This is scientific validation which proves the hypothesis that Libby has more asbestos-related deaths than anywhere else in the country.''
W.R. Grace and Co., which owned the mine that shut down 10 years ago, faces dozens of lawsuits over illnesses and cleanup costs.
Grace vice president Bill Corcoran cautioned against drawing broad conclusions from any study, noting that an earlier report suggested that the death toll tied to asbestos in Libby could top 100.
``Any death is a tragedy. I'm not minimizing even one death,'' he said. ``But I think these numbers should assure people of Lincoln County that some of these irresponsible numbers that were thrown around last year were not correct.''
Federal agencies and independent laboratories began investigating in November 1999 after two newspapers ran stories linking the mining to asbestos-related deaths among mine workers and their families.
Dr. Michael Spence, Montana's chief medical officer, said the study's results weren't surprising. He suggested the rates of asbestos-related deaths may be even higher in Libby.
``I wonder if they are totally representative because any time you rely on death certificate data alone, there is a chance of under-reporting,'' Spence said.
Asbestosis is a progressive lung disease caused by inhaling asbestos fibers.
- Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov
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