A report released by the Government Accountability Office in March indicates that although the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) knew that there was the potential for asbestos contamination at the former Hamilton, NJ W. R. Grace plant, soil was not tested for asbestos until 2009. The findings of this report are prompting officials to re-think safety standards and procedures related to potential asbestos contamination at sites similar to the Hamilton, NJ facility.
The now-closed facility in Hamilton manufactured insulation and fireproofing materials that were comprised of vermiculite ore. The vermiculite was mined at a W. R. Grace-run mine in Libby, Montana, a town that is now synonymous with asbestos-related diseases.
Officials have now confirmed that the vermiculite mined in Libby and sent to the Hamilton facility contained harmful levels of asbestos, and since the plant closed in 1994, many former employees have been diagnosed with an asbestos-caused illness. Several have died.
The report was released during the highly publicized W. R. Grace corruption trial. A handful of former Grace executives have been charged with crimes related to the possible concealment of known health risks associated with the asbestos at their Libby facility. The charges against one executive were dropped this week.
EPA officials reportedly have evidence that 445 tons of tainted vermiculite was shipped to two separate facilities in New Jersey, both near to Port Newark, but investigators were apparently unable to pinpoint exactly where the ore ended up.
Invoices from the Hamilton plant, however, state that 204,281 tons of vermiculite was received at the facility between 1966 and 1988. Just how much of this ore was contaminated with asbestos is unknown.
The report also indicates that although the Hamilton plant was in operation from about 1963 until 1994, not one EPA official made a visit until 2000 – 6 years after the plant closed. Previous articles published in The Times claimed that EPA did, however, have information that the vermiculite shipped to the Hamilton facility may have been dangerous and tainted with asbestos as early as 1985.
The first soil tests collected at the Hamilton site in October of 2000 indicated asbestos levels between 1.4 and 1.7% on the surface of the terrain, and higher levels – about 4% - at around 2 feet below the ground surface. A few months later, subsequent tests showed asbestos levels as high as 40% within the surface soil, according to this latest report.
In 2003, cleanup efforts were initiated by EPA, and approximately 9,000 tons of soil was removed from the Hamilton site. EPA also tested soil in other areas of Hamilton, and no asbestos was reported.
Chris Hamilton, a Congressman from Hamilton, requested that The Government Accountability Office investigate the situation in his community, and stresses that “new rules” must be implanted on the behalf of EPA so that potentially contaminated sites like the former plant in Hamilton are more closely monitored by environmental officials.
Many Hamilton residents were unaware about the dangers of asbestos in their town until they read articles in The Times. Smith’s proposed bill would “ensure that in the future, communities are well aware of the risks associated with Superfund clean-ups.”
Smith will meet with EPA officials in May to dissect the latest report and discuss new ways to limit asbestos-related dangers in places like Hamilton. An EPA spokesperson says that EPA is “in the process of re-assessing its standards.”
Asbestos exposure is the only confirmed cause of mesothelioma, a fatal form of cancer, and can also lead to the development of chronic respiratory ailments, asbestosis, and lung cancer. In Libby, Montana, hundreds of residents suffer from these types of diseases, and many have died as a result.
A doctor who practices in the Libby area testified at the W.R. Grace trial that he continues to diagnose asbestos diseases at the rate of one patient per day.
