Next Sleeper Town?

Libby, Montana, is a uniquely located town in northwestern Montana where the Cabinet Mountains meet the Kootenai River. Surrounded by the public lands of the Kootenai National Forest, Libby offers pristine lakes, rivers and mountain trails unencumbered by the crowds of people you would encounter anywhere else in the lower 48 states.

Downhill skiing options are some of the most varied in all the Northern Rockies with four to choose from in less than a 2-hour drive. Nordic skiers can explore the solitude of the back country or enjoy groomed trails with evening skiing.

Rivers and streams are filled with native fish that reproduce freely and don’t need to be restocked. Local guides float the Kootenai with fly fishermen from all over the world.

Hiking trails include 1400 miles of moderate to strenuous hikes that follow huckleberry laden hills to breathtaking views of the Cabinet peaks.

Wildlife sightings could include deer, elk, moose, bear, wolves, mountain lions or marmots. One can usually hear the solitary voice of a wood thrush or the tapping of a Pileated woodpecker.

In the summer the lakes are warm and invite swimming, boating and fishing. Campgrounds can be found in both developed or primitive areas. Fees are low or non-existent.

There is abundant access for snowmobiling and hundreds of miles of off-highway vehicular use trails, including single tracks for motorcycles.

Visit Libby and you will have the chance to see the mountains “the way they used to be” and still are, here in northwest Montana.

Libby, Montana, is the site of one of America's worst man-made environmental disasters.
Toxic asbestos dust from the vermiculite mines that helped the town prosper for decades has killed hundreds of residents, sickening thousands more. Victims continue to surface.

Sample of mined vermiculite
The story can be traced back to 1919 when companies first started pulling vermiculite out of mines in Libby. Known commercially as Zonolite, vermiculite was used in a variety of construction materials including insulation for homes and buildings. Decades of mining the vermiculite exposed workers and residents to toxic asbestos dust.

When W.R. Grace & Company took over operation of the mines in 1963, they knew the vermiculite was contaminated with asbestos and that it caused health complications. But they didn't warn anyone, so mining continued. An estimated 400 Libby residents have died and almost three thousand more are currently suffering illnesses related to asbestos exposure. The mine closed in 1990, but the devastation caused by the mining industry in Libby didn't gain national attention or receive government intervention until 1999 when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stepped in and began to clean up the town.


The History Behind the Libby Tragedy

Vermiculite mining in Libby began more than 80 years ago when E.N. Alley bought the Rainy Creek claims and launched Zonolite Company. In 1963, the Maryland-based W.R. Grace and Company acquired Alley’s Zonolite business.

By this time vermiculite had been mined for more than 40 years in an area about seven miles outside of Libby. Before Grace took over ownership of the mine, a number of employees developed lung problems and several fatalities were reported. Despite these health issues, the company claimed they were “unaware of the hazards of mining and milling vermiculite” when they purchased the business.

But W.R. Grace executives did know about the mine’s high level of tremolite asbestos dust and that exposure to the dust was damaging to the lungs, yet they never said anything to their employees.

Townspeople were also affected by the asbestos-tainted vermiculite, as Grace had distributed their leftover vermiculite for use in playgrounds, backyards, gardens, roads and a number of other popular locations in the town. While the asbestos was circulating in the air around the mine, it also was included in baseball fields and other areas where children and citizens commonly spent their time.

The Nation’s Response to a Story Finally Exposed

When the Seattle Post-Intelligencer wrote a series of articles about Libby in 1999, titled “Uncivil Action: A Town Left to Die,” the story of the people of Libby finally gained national attention. The EPA set up an information center in Libby to address the problem. What followed is the largest, longest-running asbestos cleanup project in American history.

Clean up began slowly at first as EPA workers identified the sources of contamination and began an extensive Superfund investigation. It was a project unlike any that the EPA had ever seen. Vermiculite needed to be removed from Libby homes and businesses and the mine site needed to be addressed. Contamination of natural resources demanded a large scale investigation as well. Libby was finally placed on the Superfund list in 2002. In 2008 Grace was ordered to provide $250 million to cover future clean-up costs. The EPA declared a Public Health Emergency in Libby, a first for the agency.

The EPA has made progress, but cleanup efforts continue. As of 2016, the EPA has investigated more than 7,300 properties and completed cleanups at 2,275 other sites, including all schools and parks, the former vermiculite processing plants and other contaminated public areas. The EPA estimates that a few hundred locations are still in need of mitigation and expects to finish those projects in the next two to three years.

Libby Asbestos Lawsuits & Settlements

Thousands of Libby residents and former Grace & Co. mine workers have filed lawsuits against the state for a failure to warn them of the dangerous levels of asbestos contaminating the vermiculite mine. In 2011, a district court judge approved a $43 million settlement with more than 1,300 plaintiffs. An estimated 200 of those plaintiffs began receiving their portion of the settlement in 2012, more than a decade after the first lawsuit was filed.

The second major payout came in January 2017, when more than 1,000 people were awarded a $25 million settlement. Montana agencies continue to claim that the state had no legal obligation to provide warning of the mine’s dangers.

https://www.asbestos.com/jobsites/libby/

problem is that the routes are just two or three pitches max

I've been through Powell River a few times on the way somewhere else.

The problem with sleeper towns is that, if you respond to a thread like this with your favorite sleeper town, then you risk convincing others that your sleeper town is a great choice, thus leading them to rush in, and by the time you are ready to buy, the prices will have gone way up.

Newburgh, N.Y

The problem with sleeper towns is that, if you respond to a thread like this with your favorite sleeper town, then you risk convincing others that your sleeper town is a great choice, thus leading them to rush in, and by the time you are ready to buy, the prices will have gone way up.