Are former residents, including children, who may have been exposed to asbestos fibers at risk?

People, even children, who lived near the plant may have been exposed to asbestos fibers in the following ways:

1. Children playing on waste piles. Children living nearby might have played on vermiculite waste rock piles left outside the plant. They might have breathed in air containing asbestos fibers while they played there.

2. Moving or handling the waste rock. People, workers included, may have taken waste rock from the plant to their homes. This waste rock was used in many ways; for example, in gardens, in children’s play areas, and for fill or paving material. People who came into direct contact with this waste rock probably breathed in air that contained asbestos fibers.

3. Breathing air within a few blocks of the site. Sometimes when the plant was operating, dust and asbestos fibers were released into the air. People who lived within a few blocks of the plant between the late 1940s and 1988 might have breathed in air that contained asbestos fibers.