Mesothelioma: Asbestos-Contaminated Vermiculite Removed from Libby Golf Course

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has begun its cleanup effort in Libby, Montana after declaring a public health emergency for the area earlier this year. Construction crews are currently removing large amounts of asbestos-laced vermiculite dirt from nine holes of the Cabinet View Country Club golf course.

The excavation project is being conducted on the older portion of the golf course and the newer nine holes of the course have remained open to the public.

Cabinet View Country Club Board Chairman Gene Chappell said, “This project is going a lot better than we really thought, because there’s just a whole bunch of stuff when you start tearing a golf course apart, but planning ahead of time, and having the right things in place, it’s really went well and I can’t thank those guys enough, because they’ve really done good.”

Asbestos-related illnesses have been responsible for approximately 400 deaths in Libby thus far. One illness in particular is mesothelioma, a rare cancer that typically develops in the lining of the lungs and causes shortness of breath.

The development of mesothelioma symptoms can take as long as 20 to 50 years after the initial exposure to asbestos occurred. As a result, most mesothelioma patients do not recognize the development of the cancer and are diagnosed during the advanced stages. Residents still living in Libby are encouraged to receive routine medical checkups for early signs of the cancer.

According to Victor Ketellapper, EPA’s Team Leader for the Libby Asbestos Superfund Site, the crews are removing asbestos from underneath the greens and tee boxes. Once the project is complete, the EPA will provide funds to help restore the course to its original condition.

The EPA plans to finish their work this fall and the country club will then begin to modernize the older side of the course. Dann Rohrer, a board member and high school golf coach, said, “We’ll go back starting next week rebuilding the tees and the greens, and the exciting part is that we’ll be able to re-build it to PGA spec type greens, a little newer style greens.”

The $1.8 million excavation project is expected to be completed by spring 2010.

Additional information about mesothelioma may be found through the Mesothelioma Center.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 20th, 2009 at 12:15 pm and is filed under Asbestos Exposure, Mesothelioma, Montana. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. Responses are currently closed, but you trackback from your own site.