Toxic cloud

The story of Libby, Montana, is typically American: settlers arrived in the 1800s and the town expanded thanks to mine and railroad construction. In 1919, the discovery of a mineral called vermiculite changed Libby’s fate. Vermiculite has many uses, from gardening to car parts, and the mine in Libby was producing 80 per cent of the world’s supply by 1963. But some vermiculite contains asbestos, a dangerous substance that can cause a huge range of lung issues.

The vermiculite in Libby did. The mining company knew about its dangerous side effects, but they didn’t tell anyone, and people in Libby used the mine’s waste products for building and landscaping, including in school projects and ice rinks. As a result, nearly ten per cent of the town’s population suffered from asbestos-related illnesses. These people weren’t always miners – the asbestos fibres that cause health problems are easy to pass to others.

Libby had effectively spent decades operating under a toxic cloud. The mine was closed in 1990, but the town’s issues didn’t become well known until 1999, and in 2009 the US government declared an emergency in Libby to clean up the town. By then, though, it was too late. Hundreds of people have passed away from asbestosrelated health issues, thousands more have experienced illness and new deaths and diseases were still being reported as late as 2018 due to the long-term effects of living with asbestos.