WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A Montana town where asbestos contamination has been blamed for more than 200 deaths will get an additional $6 million in cleanup and medical assistance from the Obama administration under a "public health emergency" declared Wednesday.
Libby, Montana, will get new help dealing with asbestos contamination.
The declaration is the first issued by the Environmental Protection Agency, which has been overseeing the cleanup of Libby, Montana, for 10 years.
The town was heavily contaminated with asbestos-laced dust that federal prosecutors said resulted in more than 200 deaths and 1,000 illnesses.
"This is a tragic public health situation that has not received the recognition it deserves by the federal government for far too long," EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said in a statement accompanying the declaration.
EPA spokeswoman Adora Andy said the money will go to local health care providers to screen, diagnose and treat asbestos-related illnesses in Libby and nearby Troy, which also suffered contamination from a mine that operated for decades.
The agency still needs to conduct "significant research" into the health effects of the type of asbestos that has been spread around town since the 1920s, she said, and does not yet know how many properties will need to be cleaned up.
In May, a federal jury acquitted mine operator W.R. Grace and three of its former executives of criminal charges related to the contamination. During Jackson's confirmation hearing in January, Montana Sen. Max Baucus said the town's 12,000 residents had been "hung out to dry" and pressed Jackson to review the issue.
The Libby operation began producing vermiculite -- a mineral often used in insulation -- in 1919. But the vermiculite was contaminated with tremolite asbestos, a particularly toxic form of asbestos that has been linked to mesothelioma, a cancer that can attack the lining of the lungs, abdomen or heart.
E.P.A.: Public health emergency in Libby, Montana
Dust from the plant covered patches of grass, dusted the tops of cars and drifted through the air in a hazy cloud that became a part of residents' daily lives.
Grace operated the facility from 1963 until it closed in 1990. During the company's three-month trial, prosecutors argued that its executives knowingly released the substance and tried to hide the danger from the community.
The company did not deny that the asbestos came from its mine, but it said it acted responsibly to clean up the contamination. It paid millions in medical bills for residents of Libby and Troy, and agreed in 2008 to pay $250 million to reimburse the EPA for its cleanup efforts.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Susan Boyle hospitalized after losing in 'Britain's Got Talent' finale
by Vicki Hyman
Friends from Susan Boyle's Scottish hometown gather to watch their local hero in the finale of "Britain's Got Talent" SaturdayThe pressure of being Earth's most YouTube'd woman got to Susan Boyle, who was hospitalized Sunday after losing "Britain's Got Talent" the previous night, judge Piers Morgan tells a British morning show. (British tabs report that Boyle was acting strangely at her hotel after the defeat, running down corridors while shouting "I hate this show.')
"She's gone in for some rest," Morgan says. "She needs to get away from everyone - get away from the show, from the media, the public, and just have a bit of down time to herself."
The hospitalization was voluntary, and Boyle had been seeking help from doctors throughout the week leading up to the finale, he says. "She had too long to wait between the audition show and the final, and the pressure just builds and builds and builds."
Boyle took her defeat with grace, saying "the best people won" (that would be the dance group Diversity). And don't cry for her (Argentina) - the classical singer stands to reap more than $8 million in the next year in endorsements, appearances and recording deals, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Susan Boyle hospitalized after 'BGT' finals
Hours after falling to second place in the Britain's Got Talent finals, Susan Boyle was taken by ambulance to a London clinic under police escort for treatment of exhaustion, according to People.com. Britain's Got Talent producers released the following statement: "Following Saturday night's show, Susan is exhausted and emotionally drained. She has been seen by her private GP who supports her decision to take a few days out for rest and recovery." The British press has reported that the singer was angry and upset after her defeat in the finals on Saturday night, though in public she appeared gracious, praising the dance troupe, Diversity, who won the competition. Boyle will reportedly be taking some time off to rest following the whirlwind media infatuation with the Scottish singer, who became an overnight celebrity thanks to the YouTube video of her audition performance, which has received some 90 million views since it debuted in April.
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