Vermont Asbestos Group Mine Health Study
New: Case Series Follow-up to Health Study (04/01/09)
For more information:
Call
1-800-439-8550 (Vermont only)
Email: vdhco@vdh.state.vt.us
About the Mine
Chrysotile asbestos was mined from open pits at three locations on Belvidere Mountain in the towns of Eden and Lowell in northern Vermont. The mine operated under a series of ownerships from the early 1900s until 1993. The most recent and current owner is the Vermont Asbestos Group (VAG), an employee-owned organization that acquired the mine in 1975 and operated it until it closed in 1993. Asbestos is still found at the site in various forms, including undisturbed veins of the raw mineral in the quarry walls, and several million cubic yards of partially processed rock, estimated at up to 30 million tons.
The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) Department of Environmental Conservation began investigating the site in 2004, due to significant erosion of asbestos waste piles into nearby streams and wetlands.
For more information, reports, and maps of the site, visit the ANR web site:
http://www.anr.state.vt.us/dec/wastediv/SMS/VAG.htm
Health Study
Case Series Follow-up
04/01/09 - Case Series Follow-up to a Cross-Sectional Study of Asbestos-Related Morbidity & Mortality among Vermonters Residing Near an Asbestos Mine (124 KB, 10 pg)
Summary
This report supplements a study published in December 2008, in which the Vermont Department of Health sought to assess the health risk, if any, to people living near the Vermont Asbestos Group mine in Eden and Lowell, Vermont.
The significant finding of this supplemental study is that all of the five asbestosis-related deaths that occurred in towns surrounding the mine during the years 1996 to 2005 can be explained by occupational exposure to asbestos.
With this additional study, the Vermont Department of Health found no evidence that people who live near the mine are more likely to die of non-occupationally contracted asbestos-related diseases than people who live elsewhere in the state.
Previous Study
NOTE: Additional findings are presented in a new Vermont Department of Health report, Case Series Follow-up (released April 1, 2009).
April 1, 2009 - The Health Department conducted further study and found that all of the deaths from asbestosis that occurred in towns surrounding the Vermont Asbestos Group mine during the years 1996 to 2005 can be explained by occupational exposure to asbestos.
There is no evidence that people who live near the mine are more likely to die of non-occupationally contracted asbestos-related diseases than people who live elsewhere in the state.
For Health Care Professionals
Information for Health Care Professionals
Clinical overview, toxicological studies, screening guidelines, patient materials.
Page reviewed: April 1, 2009