EIS Must Be Prepared at Dillon Vermiculite Mine

On September 30, 2000 residents of Dillon could breathe a little easier. The Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) announced that an environmental impact statement (EIS) must be prepared for the proposed expansion of the Dillon Vermiculite mine.

Dillon Vermiculite is a-five acre operation located southeast of Dillon on public land in the Ruby Mountains. Recently Stansbury Holding, the owner of the mine, applied to DEQ for permission to expand the mine to 75 acres. DEQ conducted an environmental assessment (EA) and gave the company the green light in April 1999. When the tragedy of Libby was revealed by the press in November 1999, citizens in Dillon became concerned about the potential health and environmental effects of the mine’s operation. Analysis of the ore body has determined that asbestos is present.

On April 3rd, 2000, DEQ agreed to take additional public comments on the EA and to consider whether a full EIS was necessary. The law requires that an EIS be completed for any State action that has the potential to cause a significant impact to the environment. MEIC and numerous concerned citizens in Dillon worked hard to convince DEQ that permitting another asbestos-contaminated vermiculite mine definitely meets this criterion.

The disaster that unfolded in Libby extracted a toll of human life and suffering that should never be repeated in this state. It is abundantly clear that inadequate government analysis, regulations, and oversight were part of the problem. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in the course of conducting clean-up operations in Libby, has already identified numerous problems and raised numerous questions concerning asbestos analysis and the ability of the existing regulations to protect human health and the environment.

The bottom line is that the public needs to be confident that these problems have been addressed before another asbestos-contaminated vermiculite mine is developed. MEIC will make sure that this is addressed in the EIS process.

Mine History

While the W.R. Grace mine in Libby is certainly the biggest and most infamous vermiculite mine in Montana, it is not the only one. In the Ruby Mountains southeast of Dillon, a small open-pit vermiculite mine has operated sporadically since the early 1990s. Several years ago, this five-acre operation, owned by Stansbury Holdings, applied to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to expand its operations to 75 acres. The mine is located entirely on public land. DEQ conducted an environmental assessment (EA) of the project, and granted the permit in April 1999.

In the wake of the tragedy at Libby, it is not surprising that citizens of Dillon have become concerned about the potential health effects of the Dillon vermiculite mine. Analysis of the ore in the proposed expansion demonstrates that asbestos is present. Recent drill samples collected by DEQ indicate a range of asbestos concentrations from none to 0.75%. Although these concentrations are substantially lower than at the W.R. Grace mine, they may still pose a health hazard. It depends on the amount of asbestos that becomes airborn and available for inhalation when the ore is processed. Stansbury Holdings is proposing to process 60,000 tons of ore annually. Therefore, somewhere between 0 and 450 tons of asbestos will be excavated and processed each year.

Consider 450 tons of asbestos in terms of the human health standard administered by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) -- 2 asbestos fibers per cubic centimeter of air. While the standard seems very low, even it leaves substantial health risks. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has estimated that this standard will result in a 5% incidence of asbestosis, and a 6% incidence of asbestos-induced cancer in the workforce. That's an estimated 50 workers out of 1000 contracting asbestosis and 64 workers out of 1000 contracting an asbestos-induced cancer. MSHA is currently considering lowering its standard to 0.1 fibers per cc (the OSHA standard).

MSHA considered its current standard to be acceptable because it is supposed to be accompanied by mandated worker protection and education measures which reduce the level of exposure.  This was clearly ineffective at W.R. Grace where workers were neither informed that the vermiculite was contaminated with asbestos nor provided with sufficient protective gear.