IG wants more study, Baucus outraged
New report says EPA cannot verify safety of Libby asbestos cleanup
December 6, 2006
The EPA Inspector General says, in their limited review, they identified significant issues that they believe are critical to a successful cleanup in Libby.
EPA has not completed a toxicity assessment of amphibole asbestos necessary to determine the safe level for human exposure and cannot be sure that the Libby cleanup sufficiently reduces the risk that humans may become ill or, if ill already, get worse.
The IG said EPA’s public information documents Living with Vermiculite and Asbestos in Your Home are inconsistent about safety concerns.
The Inspector General is recommending the EPA fund and execute a comprehensive amphibole asbestos toxicity assessment to determine the effectiveness of the Libby removal actions, and whether more actions are necessary. The toxicity assessment should include the effects of asbestos exposure on children, said the IG.
The EPA Science Advisory Board should review the toxicity assessment and report to the Office of the EPA Administrator and the Libby Community Advisory Group whether the proposed toxicity assessment can sufficiently protect human health.
Further, said the Inspector General, the EPA should review and correct any statements that cannot be supported in any documentation mailed or made available to Libby residents regarding the safety of living with or handling asbestos until EPA confirms those facts through a toxicity assessment.
Montana Senator Max Baucus said he was outraged by the new report that says the Environmental Protection Agency cannot verify the safety of its asbestos cleanup activities in Libby.
Baucus asked the EPA’s Office of Inspector General in August to perform an independent analysis of EPA’s work in Libby. The report released Tuesday (December 5) was conducted between August 22 and November 22, 2006.
“It’s an outrage,” Baucus said. “Heads should roll at EPA. The people in Libby and the American taxpayers deserve better, much better.”
The report shows the EPA cannot definitively say its cleanup standards are safe for human health in the community. Baucus has been asking the EPA for a toxicity review since last spring. Such an analysis would set a baseline for environmental cleanup standards and verify that houses and other sites that have been cleaned up are indeed safe.
“Mothers and fathers believed that the EPA was making Libby safe for their children, and their children’s children,” Baucus said. “The EPA’s work in Libby is morally and ethically reprehensible – it has the potential to bring further harm to community that has already suffered too much.”
“EPA has neither planned nor completed a risk and toxicity assessment of the Libby amphibole asbestos to determine the safe level of human exposure,” the report reads.
“Thus EPA cannot be sure that the ongoing Libby cleanup is sufficient to prevent humans from contracting asbestos-related diseases,” said Baucus.
Baucus said he would do “whatever it takes to get this situation fixed immediately,” including directing the EPA to complete a toxicity review through legislation if necessary. Baucus said he will call for a Congressional hearing into the situation as a senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which oversees the EPA.
“I’m stunned,” Baucus said. “The EPA has dropped the ball and let us all down. I expect them to fix this mess. And those responsible for EPA shortcomings should be held accountable,” he said.
Baucus has personally visited Libby nearly 20 times since 1999, when widespread asbestos exposure was linked to illness and death.
Baucus said Wednesday that he’ll block all nominees for positions with the EPA until the agency agrees to expedite a long-awaited study to verify asbestos cleanup efforts in Libby.
Baucus said he’s placed a “hold” on Alex Beehler, who’s been nominated to be the EPA’s Inspector General, which performs independent reviews and investigations of the agency. He said he’ll hold up all other EPA nominees as well until the agency agrees to perform the study immediately.
“It’s been seven years and the EPA can’t tell us whether or not their cleanup activities are working,” Baucus said. “That’s a disgrace. And that’s why nobody from EPA will move through the Senate until we get this fixed.”
Since appointments for high-profile positions in the Bush Administration must be approved by the U.S. Senate, senators often place holds on nominees as leverage to get the agency to take action. Any senator can place a hold, and it only takes one hold to block the nomination from advancing. Administration appointments aren’t subject to confirmation in the U.S. House, just the Senate.
Baucus said the EPA incorrectly told people in Libby that the agency’s cleanup actions had eliminated the risk of getting asbestos-related disease.
“In addition to getting this study going immediately, I expect the EPA to correct any public statements they’ve made so folks in Libby know exactly what’s going on,” Baucus said.
Baucus is a senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which has jurisdiction over the EPA. The report released Tuesday can be found here: http://www.epa.gov/oig/reports/2007/20061205-2007-P-00002.pdf
Story by KLCB-KTNY NEWS, www.bestcountryaround.com
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