Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

In October 2007, the Government Accountability Office conducted an investigation into the Environmental Protection Agency’s role in investigation and clean-up of factories that once produced asbestos-contaminated vermiculite insulation.

A story by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer said the report indicated that the EPA’s investigation of 265 communities that processed vermiculite ore from Libby, Mont., used outdated criteria and underestimated dangers to people who worked in the factories or lived nearby.

However, public health specialists are reacting more strongly to what is not contained in this report – the EPA’s failure to warn the American public of the asbestos risk posed by vermiculite insulation in their homes.

The insulation was produced by W.R. Grace & Co., usually under the brand name Zonolite. It is estimated that as many as 35 million homes nationwide contain vermiculite asbestos insulation.

The Post-Intelligencer says the EPA promised to launch a national consumer awareness campaign about vermiculite attic insulation in May 2003, which never materialized. The campaign was to have included television and radio ads, as well as distribution of warning posters and brochures in home improvement stores.

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