Cleaning up asbestos mine on Belvedere Mountain, Vermont could cost $500 million

Vermont Asbestos Group’s mine on Vermont’s Belvedere Mountain closed in 1993 after almost a century in operation, leaving asbestos tailings scattered over the lower part of the mountain. In addition to the risk of asbestos in open piles, arsenic, magnesium and nickel have appeared at high levels in area streams. Asbestos has washed out of the tailing piles and into brooks and ponds that drain into the Lamoille and the Missisquoi, two major rivers in northwestern Vermont. This asbestos contamination is blamed for killing aquatic life in the streams and destroying wetlands, where birds and mammals have begun to disappear. There is also concern that asbestos fibers could become airborne and expose the public to cancer risk because inhaling asbestos fibers has been connected to mesothelioma and lung cancer, as well as other forms of cancer. The Environmental Protection Agency has developed a plan, at Vermont’s request, to prevent asbestos from further eroding from the tailings and polluting or blocking nearby streams. The mountain may become a Superfund site, and cleanup could cost $500 million.