**GAO-08-71**                      Published: Oct 12, 2007. Publicly Released: Oct 12, 2007.                  

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## Highlights

Between 1923 and the early 1990s, a mine near Libby, Montana, shipped millions of tons of asbestos-contaminated vermiculite ore to sites throughout the United States. In 2000, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began to clean up asbestos contamination at the Libby mine and evaluate those sites that received the ore to determine if they were contaminated. Under Superfund program regulations and guidance, EPA regional offices took steps to inform affected communities of contamination problems and agency efforts to address them. GAO was asked to (1) describe the status of EPA's and other federal agencies' efforts to assess and address potential risks at the facilities that received contaminated Libby ore and (2) determine the extent and effectiveness of EPA's public notification efforts about cleanups at sites that received Libby ore. GAO, among other steps, convened focus groups in three of the affected communities to address these issues.

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## Topics

Natural Resources and Environment

AsbestosContaminationEnvironment evaluationEnvironmental cleanupsEnvironmental monitoringFederal regulationsstate relationsHazardous substancesHealth hazardsPollutionPollution controlPublic healthRegulatory agenciesRisk assessmentRisk managementPolicies and procedures