Rare, Deadly Cancer Far More Common in Libby Than Elsewhere
June 25, 2002
LIBBY - A rare cancer that has no cure is 1,000 times more common among residents in Libby than people in the rest of the nation, public officials say.
Called mesothelioma, the cancer appears in one of every 1,000 Libby-area residents. Officials said the cancer normally strikes one in a million.
Libby was the world's largest supplier of vermiculite and is at the center of what lawmakers and federal officials describe as a "public health crisis" because of asbestos-related diseases.
It appears 23 cases of the rare cancer, referred to as "meso," have origins in Libby, said Paul Peronard, Libby coordinator for the Environmental Protection Agency.
The EPA discussed the mesothelioma problem in a May 2 memo, and said the count is based on reports from local and regional doctors.
Peronard said some cases may have been double-counted if different doctors diagnosed the same patient. But, he said, the rough count is enough to show meso is far too common in Libby.
He and other officials discussed the memo's contents with the Western News of Libby, a twice-weekly newspaper that reported the mesothelioma statistics in a recent edition.
"We don't know of any cause other than asbestos exposure," Dr. Brad Black, Lincoln County health officer, told the newspaper.
"Does (asbestos) cause every case of mesothelioma? We don't know. But if (meso) shows up in someone, your first thought is asbestos," Black said.
The malignant form of the disease shows up as tumors in the chest cavity or abdominal lining. Not much is known about meso because it afflicts so few people, making it difficult to study, Black said.
"There is no cure," he said. "It is universally fatal."
The EPA has been cleaning up asbestos in Libby homes. The contamination comes from a now-defunct vermiculite mine operated first by Zonolite Corp. and later by W.R. Grace & Co.
The vermiculite ore contained harmful tremolite asbestos, which was used in Zonolite insulation and other household products. Lingering contamination from the mine is blamed for almost 200 deaths and health problems for hundreds of others.