SSA helping Libby residents

WASHINGTON – A Social Security Administration official said Wednesday the agency is changing its rules so Libby, Mont., residents sickened by asbestos exposure are eligible for Social Security disability payments.

Martin H. Gerry, a deputy commissioner at the administration, told reporters the agency will clarify its regulations this week to include victims of tremolite asbestos, which has sickened many residents of the small town in northwestern Montana.

Residents whose previous applications were rejected can reapply. Gerry said that average payments are around $1,200 a month, and some recipients receive up to $2,200 monthly.

Asbestos released into the air from the now-closed W.R. Grace and Co. vermiculite mine in Libby is blamed by some health authorities for killing about 200 people and sickening one of every eight residents there.