Gayla Benefield suffers from asbestosis related to asbestos exposure in Libby, Montana, where her father worked at a vermiculite mine. The mine, closed in 1990, was linked to rising health issues after investigations revealed health threats from contaminated minerals. The EPA designated Libby a Superfund site in 2002 and declared a public health emergency in 2009. Data shows 694 deaths linked to asbestos-related diseases in Libby from 1979 to 2011, with significant estimates of affected residents. The nonprofit Center for Asbestos Related Disease provides free lung screenings, revealing that symptoms can take decades to manifest.
Benefield remembered the white dust that covered her father's clothes when he got home from work, and she learned later that the whole family had been exposed to asbestos.
The Environmental Protection Agency declared parts of Libby a Superfund site in 2002. Seven years later, the agency declared a public health emergency for the town—a first in U.S. history.
A study found that 694 Libby residents had died of an asbestos-related cause from 1979 to 2011. Additionally, health providers in the town of 3,200 estimate that 1 in 10 residents have an asbestos-related illness.
Because asbestos-related disease symptoms can take 30 years or longer to appear, nearly a third of the clinic's screenings are for new patients.
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