Residents had access to vermiculite asbestos waste piles

Information on waste materials is limited, but materials from the baghouses may have been taken to a local landfill.

W.R. Grace documents indicate the waste (stoner rock) was disposed of at the Libby mine. If any vermiculite waste has been disposed of on-site, the exposure pathway would be complete only if soil is disturbed.

It is not known for sure if nearby workers or residents had access to waste piles or whether they took materials home to use as garden amendments or for use in paving driveways. However, former workers indicate that waste rock was taken off site for personal use.

Past and present exposure to waste materials is a potential pathway of exposure. This pathway is considered an "indeterminate public health hazard."