January 13, 2009 Asbestos mine causes uproar in Vermont Play video

(Anya Huneke, NECN: Eden, VT) - The second of two meetings takes place tonight in Vermont’s northeast kingdom, and if the first one last night was any indication, it will be heated.

Health officials stood before hundreds of residents - many of them angry - to discuss a study that identified old asbestos mine in Eden and Lowell as a health hazard.

Some say the state has little evidence to back up its claims.

Throughout her adult life, 80 year-old Betty Jones has looked across her Eden, Vermont, property at the asbestos mine on Belvidere mountain-- where her husband worked for almost 50 years.

Betty Jones\Eden "It's there... like a tree in your yard... it's there."

The mine closed in 1993... But 16 years later- it's what everyone in Eden and surrounding towns is talking about.

Jones is angry - specifically - at the Vermont health department-- which she feels has unjustly given Eden a bad name.

Betty "Everyone in the world thinks Eden is not safe to live in."

Last November, health officials issued a warning-- that living near the mine could have serious health implications, including an increased risk of asbestosis and lung cancer. They found a small - but statistically large - number of people living within 10 miles of the mine had either died from or been hospitalized for asbestos-related conditions.

Wendy Davis\Hlth Commissioner "We wouldn't have felt comfortable having information that's

What has angered residents like Jones and Leslie White, though, is that the findings, they feel, were presented without enough research. Lung cancer is no longer a concern for health officials.

Wendy Davis "The lung cancer association was, in retrospect, an error."

...and many questions remain about the true connections between the mine and elevated rates of asbestosis.

Leslie "They didn't do any of that leg work before they came up with that conclusion."

What health officials don't know is *how* those affected people were exposed to asbestos- or whether there's currently a health risk for residents. But they say they owe it to the public to find out.

Wendy "We look at it as- we have an obligation to protect the public health."

Leslie "I think we've been raked over the coals."

Monday night - White unleashed her anger at the health department at the first of two meetings. Health commissioner Wendy Davis apologized to residents for flaws in the studies... but some say that's not enough to repair the damage that's been done-- to the community's property values... sense of safety... and pride.

Betty "It's very hard to hear them say things like that."

Officials will continue their research- and hope residents will stay away from the mine...

White would like the state to do the same. “Leave the piles alone. Leave them alone."