EPA: Libby wood chips pose no risk

BILLINGS – Test results from huge piles of wood chips that were being sold from a Montana Superfund site for use in landscaping show they contain some asbestos but at levels so low federal officials said they pose no danger to humans.

The results obtained Friday by the Associated Press appear to offer a rare bit of relief for the town of Libby, where widespread asbestos contamination has killed an estimated 400 people and sickened 1,750.

The testing followed concerns raised by local officials, residents and business owners who bought loads of the material to spread around their homes, in parks and for use as erosion control. Prior tests indicated the presence of asbestos in the piles but not how much.

Thousands of tons of the wood chips were shipped out of the Libby area for retail sales across the country. The sales went on for years before federal regulators stepped in last year to halt the practice.

The Environmental Protection Agency found no asbestos in recent air tests designed to mimic human exposure from spreading the wood chips. The agency previously had said a “very low level” of asbestos had been found in tests of the wood chips themselves.

“It was all good news,” said Rebecca Thomas of the EPA’s regional headquarters in Denver. “There simply is no measured exposure.”

No further EPA actions were planned on the wood chips, Thomas said.