Libby, Montana

The area around Libby, Montana--a town of logging companies, middle-class homes, small casinos, and VFW lodges--is known as the "land of the shining mountains." For years, the mine outside town provided good jobs for workers who extracted vermiculite (which resembles mica), a mineral used mostly in home insulation. Gradually, locals realized that many workers were getting sick from working in the mine, and the dust carried home on workers' clothes was affecting family members as well. The Libby mine was contaminated with asbestos and over time began to extract a heavy toll, killing workers and their families. The mine's parent company, W.R. Grace, once a respected pillar of the community reacted with denial and disdain, closing the mine in 1990, declaring bankruptcy, and leaving the government with a massive cleanup problem. Drury Gunn Carr and Doug Hawes-Davis' Libby, Montana presents a sadly familiar story of a big business that values profits over the welfare of workers, aided and abetted by a federal government all too willing to follow the corporate agenda, and features interviews with former workers, journalists, doctors, and EPA officials. Despite an overly long running time and intrusive musical score, the film defines the issues without resorting to cheap shots or easy answers, and ends with a note that vermiculite was used to insulate millions of American homes, a chilling reminder that this problem extends well beyond Libby. DVD extras include deleted scenes, filmmaker interviews, and a documentary on the health effects of asbestos. A fine example of advocacy journalism, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (S. Rees)