(The following blog post is an extension of a Letter to the Editor published in The Western News  on May 1 2015.)

Montana’s two U.S. Senators Jon Tester and Steven Daines highlighted “Asbestos Awareness Week.” Their article appeared April 3rd in Libby, Montana’s newspaper, The Western News, especially honoring the many people who are ill and have passed away painfully suffering from various illnesses due to asbestos exposure.

While I appreciate their kind comments and concern for Libby folks, I was heartbroken when I read the following excerpt from their article:

     “While asbestos is no longer mined in Libby and no longer legally used in manufacturing, in America”, Black said, “it’s important to keep up the campaign for awareness.”

      “Asbestos is still mined and used in products in other places around the world,” Black said. “The diseases are still there. They keep happening. People need to be aware of this. It’s another preventable disease we could wipe off the books if we go after it.”

According to the EPA website, many products are made using asbestos here in the United States (not in Libby). There is a widespread misconception about asbestos in the USA. Most people believe that the government banned asbestos. It is NOT illegal, as many people think. It was banned for a brief period of time, but the 1989 ban on asbestos was overturned in 1991, and it is still used in many products that are made and used in the USA. The following information is quoted directly from the current EPA website: http://www2.epa.gov/asbestos/us-federal-bans-asbestos Read More→