A Montana town where asbestos contamination has been blamed for more than 200 deaths will get an additional $6 million in cleanup and medical assistance from the Obama administration under a "public health emergency" declared Wednesday. Libby, Montana, will get new help dealing with asbestos contamination.
The declaration is the first issued by the Environmental Protection Agency, which has been overseeing the cleanup of Libby, Montana, for 10 years.
The town was heavily contaminated with asbestos-laced dust that federal prosecutors said resulted in more than 200 deaths and 1,000 illnesses.
"This is a tragic public health situation that has not received the recognition it deserves by the federal government for far too long," EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said in a statement accompanying the declaration.
EPA spokeswoman Adora Andy said the money will go to local health care providers to screen, diagnose and treat asbestos-related illnesses in Libby and nearby Troy, which also suffered contamination from a mine that operated for decades.
The agency still needs to conduct "significant research" into the health effects of the type of asbestos that has been spread around town since the 1920s, she said, and does not yet know how many properties will need to be cleaned up.
