Montana Asbestos & Mesothelioma

Asbestos in Montana

Much of the asbestos exposure that has done severe health damage in this country has come from industrial or military jobsites.  From that perspective, the people of Montana are fortunate in that the state is not heavily industrialized and has no naval bases where asbestos-laden ships were stationed and repaired.  The few industrial installations where there may have been asbestos exposure in Montana include oil refineries and the paper mills that came into being during the earlier decades of the twentieth century.

However the people who have historically suffered the most exposure to asbestos have been the miners in asbestos mines or mines with ore that contained asbestos.  Montana is home to one of the most notorious mines where asbestos-tainted ore was mined for sixty to seventy years: the W.R. Grace mine in Libby.  From about 1920 to 1990 this mine was operated to extract vermiculite, a mineral that makes excellent insulating material after it has been exposed to extreme heat and “popped.â€? 

The vermiculite in Libby is laced with asbestos.  For the decades that the mine was in operation, miners were exposed to asbestos daily.  Dust from the mine operations passed through the town and traveled home on miner’s clothing.  As a result, the number of deaths from asbestos-related diseases in Libby has been astronomical, compared to the population at large.  Moreover, while the mine was in operation it produced perhaps half of the vermiculite mined in the world.  It was shipped to at least 28 insulation-producing facilities, which turned out asbestos-tainted insulation and then shipped the product to hundreds of commercial outlets.

ANACONDA COPPER MINING COMPANY ANACONDA MT
SULPHURIC ACID PLANT ANACONDA MT
CORETTE POWERHOUSE BILLINGS MT
FIBERGLAS ENGINEERING & SUPPLY CO. BILLINGS MT
MONTANA POWER CO  BILLINGS MT
BOZEMAN MONTANA COLLEGE BOZEMAN MT
ANACONDA COPPER MINING COMPANY BUTTE MT
VICTOR CHEMICAL COMPANY BUTTE MT
ANACONDA ALUMINUM PLANT COLUMBIA FALLS MT
UNION OIL CO CUT BANK MT
GLASGOW AIR FORCE BASE  GLASGOW MT
MONTANA-DAKOTA UTILITIES GLENDIVE MT
GENERAL MILLS - FLOUR DIVISION GREAT FALLS MT
PHILLIPS PETROLEUM CO. GREAT FALLS MT
CENEX REFINERY LAUREL MT
CENEX, INC. LAUREL MT
FARMERS UNION CENTRAL EXCHANGE LAUREL MT
J NEIL LUMBER COMPANY LIBBY MT
W.R. GRACE CO. MINE LIBBY MT
HOERNER WALDORF PAPER PRODUCTS MISSOULA MT
UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA MISSOULA MT
WALDORF PAPER COMPANY MISSOULA MT
UNION OIL COMPANY OUT BANK MT
MONTANA DAKOTA UTILITIES CO. SIDNEY MT
SIDNEY MONTANA POWERHOUSE SIDNEY MT
TEXACO, INC. SUNBURST MT

Deaths Caused by Asbestos in Montana

The situation in Libby will throw the per-capita occurrence of asbestos-related deaths in Montana out of line with the rest of the country. The federal government started tracking deaths from asbestos-caused mesothelioma cancer in 1999.  From that time through 2004 there were 71 deaths in Montana due to malignant mesothelioma. 

However one of the unusual characteristics of mesothelioma cancer is that it takes many years for symptoms to appear after the exposure to asbestos has occurred.  Twenty years is not unusual; researchers believe that it will be 2010 when the cases of mesothelioma in Libby begin to peak.  What is known is that about 1200 of the 2100 residents of Libby have some sort of health problem related to asbestos.

Cancer Treatment in Montana

In western Montana:
Montana Cancer Center
500 West Broadway
Missoula, Montana
Medical Oncology – 406-728-2539
Radiation Oncology – 406-329-5655

In Great Falls:

Sletten Cancer Center
2800 11th Avenue South
 Great Falls, MT 59406
406.455.5840 or
1.800.544.7798

In Utah:

Huntsman Cancer Institute
University of Utah
2000 Circle of Hope
Salt Lake City, Utah 84112
Tel: (801) 581-4485
Fax: (801) 581-2175