Montana Cement Co. Employees Stay Home after Asbestos Alert

On March 16, workers at the Ash Grove Cement Company in Montana City, Montana (about three miles southeast of Helena) were ordered not to come in to work after a company geologist found what looked to be tremolite in one section of the 100-acre limestone quarry, 10 acres of which are currently being excavated.

Tremolite, the same substance found in the Libby mine owned by W.R. Grace - now under attack for exposing generations of Libby residents to a known health hazard - is a mineral form of asbestos that, when breathed as dust or particles, can cause serious health problems, including lung cancer, cancer of the pharynx, cancer of the esophagus, stomach cancer, colon cancer, cancer of the rectum, asbestosis and mesothelioma. Mesothelioma, a particularly lethal form of cancer, can lie dormant for decades, but when it finally manifests the patient commonly dies with 12 to 18 months.

Ash Grove employs 80 individuals from the town, nine of them in the quarry. When the discovery occurred, 57 hourly employees were sent home with pay. That pay has continued to come in, and is scheduled through March 27 while company officials investigate rock samples from all parts of the quarry and dust from the plant itself.

Subsequent to the initial discovery, industrial hygienists from the U.S. Dept. of Labor's Mining Safety and Health Administration, or MSHA, arrived and began their own, independent testing for tremolite. According to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality's (DEQ) Director, Richard Opper, the two agencies will work closely with other state and federal health officials to ascertain if the site has asbestos exposure, though initial tests - which did identify tremolite - found no evidence of asbestos fibers. Tremolite dust is a silicate, and thus a known carcinogen when inhaled, but nowhere near as lethal as asbestos.

Opper is hopeful the final results will be available by March 27, or the end of March at the latest. If asbestos is discovered, all structures along the road between the quarry and the cement plant will have to be tested, including a number of homes and at least one school. Since this road runs through the center of Montana City, officials from the Montana Environmental Information Center are keeping a close eye on developments. The lessons of Libby, Montana have not been lost on them.

On Friday, March 20, DEQ Deputy Director Tom Livers sent a letter to the Ash Grove Cement Company requesting not only detailed information on past testing, tremolite sampling and air quality records, but historical reports like health records that may indicate whether the cement company's employees were exposed to asbestos.

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