Free public presentations on vermiculite mining and asbestos contamination
September 19, 2012
There will be a free, public series of presentations offered in Libby this fall on the history and ramifications of vermiculite mining and asbestos contamination in Lincoln County. The presentations vary in content from the geology of the vermiculite ore body to the history of the Libby mine to the effects of asbestos on human health. There are nine presentations all told, each to be given by a different expert speaker and each to be held at the Little Theatre in Libby, which is in the School Administration Building on Louisiana Avenue. The presentations will be offered twice on the same day, once from 4:00-5:30 pm and again from 7:00-8:30 pm. All of the presentations are free and open to the public.
The schedule of presentation dates and topics:
Wed., Sept. 12 – Geology and Mineralogy of Asbestos
Thurs., Sept. 20 – Discovery of Vermiculite and the Zonolite Corporation
Thurs., Sept. 27 – History of W.R. Grace and the Libby Mine (including a panel of local miners)
Thurs., Oct. 4 – Role of the State of Montana in the Libby Story
Thurs., Oct. 11 – Alphabet Soup: History of Governmental Agency Involvement in the Libby Story
Thurs., Oct. 25 –Biology and Toxicology of Asbestos
Thurs., Nov. 1 – Human Health: Screening and Treatment
Wed., Nov. 7 – The EPA and the Clean-Up
Wed., Nov. 14 – Current Research into the Health Effects of Asbestos
If you’ve ever wondered what exactly asbestos is, what it does to a person’s body, why its toxic nature wasn’t recognized sooner (and why it still isn’t fully understood), what it really was like working at the Libby Mine, or what exactly the EPA does when they clean out your garden, these presentations offer a chance to answer these questions.
Please note the first presentation will be this Wednesday, September 12, at the Little Theatre in Libby at 4:00 pm and again at 7:00 pm. The first speaker is Dr. Greg Meeker, USGS geologist and leading expert on Libby Amphibole Asbestos.
A portion of this lecture series is funded by a grant from Humanities Montana.
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