ASBESTOS IN PORTLAND
Asbestos and vermiculite health issues at Portland site

The former Vermiculite Northwest/W.R. Grace site, condemned for asbestos exposure, is located at the intersections of N. Harding, N. Randolph, and N. Loring in an industrial area of northeast Portland, Oregon, near the Willamette River.

Vermiculite was processed at the site from the early 1950’s through 1993. From 1967 through 1991, Vermiculite Northwest/W.R. Grace received shipments of 193,112.78 tons (386,225,563 lbs.) of Libby vermiculite (unpublished information from EPA’s database of W.R. Grace invoices) that were exfoliated at the site.

In response to scientific studies in the 1990s that indicated higher rates of asbestos-related health conditions in Libby, Montana, EPA investigated a number of sites throughout the country where Libby vermiculite had been reportedly processed. As part of this investigation, EPA visited the Vermiculite Northwest/W.R. Grace plant in March 2000 and collected soil, dust, and air samples inside the former plant. EPA identified Vermiculite Northwest/W.R.Grace as a site for further investigation as a result of this sampling effort.

After follow-up interior cleanup was complete in 2002, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ), lead agency for site cleanup, determined that no further cleanup actions were needed at the site. However, there have been many advances in the understanding of vermiculite cleanups, as well as fiber toxicity, since the site’s initial cleanup and the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) Superfund Health Investigation and Education program (SHINE) recommended that the site be revisited by the EPA for further limited sampling.

EPA, along with staff from SHINE and ODEQ and a former plant employee, revisited the property in August 2004 and March 2005, to begin investigating if adequate cleanup was performed in 2002. Initial samples have indicated that further cleanup is needed.