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Asbestos Watch says Libby won’t get new money for asbestos cleanup Says EPA will use money it already received from W.R. Grace one year ago by Dawn Ballou, LibbyMT.com June 25, 2009 In an article posted on its website, Asbestos Watch disputes the perception that EPA is providing new money to help Libby as part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recent announcement declaring a Public Health Emergency for Libby. In EPA’s announcement on Thursday, June 18th, the agency said they were offering a new grant to provide short-term medical assistance for screening, diagnostic and treatment services in a comprehensive and coordinated manner in partnership with local officials on the ground in Lincoln County. "It does not, contrary to most reporting, provide any additional money to Libby. In answers to a host of questions from Asbestos Watch, the EPA stated that money for the cleanup is actually coming out of funds it had already received from W.R. Grace one year ago (EPA answered these questions on the condition that Asbestos Watch would not attribute them to any one official). There is no "new" money going to Libby as a result of this public health emergency declaration," author Paul Peters writes. "And it’s more than a little interesting that the declaration comes now, after W.R. Grace, the company responsible for releasing the contaminants that poisoned Libby, has safely cleared the deck of all lawsuits pertaining to its operations in Libby, and has reached a settlement with the federal government that protects the company from future health care and cleanup costs in Libby," he said. Asbestos Watch (AW) is a nonprofit online news magazine dedicated to original investigative reporting on asbestos issues. Its Lead Investigative Reporter and Chief Editor is Paul Peters, who is a former reporter for the Missoula Independent. According to the AW website, he often covered the Superfund cleanup of asbestos in Libby, Montana, and won a Society of Professional Journalists award in 2007 for his reporting on the subject. Click here to read the entire article from June 19, 2009: For Polluter, EPA Times Libby Emergency Declaration Perfectly Related Links Libby meets Manhattan - Connecting the dots between a New York terrorist attack and a Montana mining disaster (Asbestos Watch, 8/2/07) EPA announces Public Health Emergency in Libby, Montana - (LibbyMT.com, 6/18/09)

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