A Times Editorial

Asbestos risks

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 28, 2000

Environmental Protection Agency officials' recent admission that they shelved reports documenting high levels of asbestos in products made by W.R. Grace and Company raises numerous concerns. For 18 years, the EPA sat on information that might have saved hundreds, some near a Grace mine in Montana and others in an Ohio factory, from severe lung disease. The EPA has a responsibility to explain how this breach occurred and take appropriate action. Grace and the federal government also should be working on a process to compensate those who have been harmed by this negligence or willful misconduct.

The incident reignites worries about the carcinogenic fire-proofing substance asbestos. Grace mined a substance called vermiculite in Libby, Mont., until 1990. Vermiculite contains a lesser-known form of asbestos known as tremolite.

Grace officials and the EPA are at odds as to the levels of asbestos in the company's insulation products, but recent studies show that Grace officials' research methods are flawed. And the number of sick workers, who started surfacing as early as 1982, should dispel any illusions the company might have about tremolite's dangers. Grace should acknowledge the health hazards and take its share of responsibility for those who have been become ill or died. The revelations also should send signs to the EPA that products containing vermiculite, such as potting soil and insulation, should be carefully scrutinized.

In addition, federal authorities need to conduct a thorough investigation to determine how the damaging reports about Grace were mishandled for so long. Back in 1982, when evidence of the dangers at the Libby plant first became known, the EPA was led by Reagan administration appointees hostile to the agency's mission. Still, it is hard to imagine that reports warning of a grave public health risk would have been purposely sidetracked.

In recent years, it has become conventional wisdom that the asbestos scare was overblown. But this incident gives the EPA and other regulators an opportunity to make sure that assumption wasn't premature. Whatever the case, public and private-sector officials should take this as a reminder of their duty to remain diligent in protecting public health.

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