ATV driving and asbestos shouldn't mix

Maybe it’s because I live in Montana and the small town of Libby has been declared a federal superfund site due to asbestos contamination from a nearby vermiculite mine.  With extremely disturbing stories about the Libby, MT asbestos situation a mainstay of state and even national news for practically a decade, Montanans tend to take asbestos seriously.  And one of the prime questions about Libby relates to responsibility…  when did the W.R. Grace company know about the asbestos, and why didn’t they protect people from it.  (Unfortunately, the government lost its case against the W.R. Grace company last year.)

So it just blows my mind that off-road vehicle riders in San Benito County, California are fighting to reopen a play area that was closed by the Bureau of Land Management after high levels of asbestos were found in the dirt.  The recreation area was also popular with hikers, bird watchers and other nonmotorized recreationists, but it was closed to all use in 2008.

While some apparently question the relative toxicity of the particular type of asbestos found in the area (chrysotile), the EPA and other regulatory bodies have labeled this and other forms of asbestos  as carcinogens.   We’ve previously posted news articles about this story, like this one from the Los Angeles Times in May 2008.  According to that article:

“The EPA and other federal agencies, however, have found that chrysotile asbestos is toxic.
Moreover, officials said, they found other types of asbestos -- including tremolite and actinolite -- all known carcinogens. “

While typically it’s the people who are being exposed to asbestos who fight to stop the contamination, the opposite is true in this example, with off-road riders fighting to reopen the area, regardless of the hazard (and also arguing that there is no hazard).  The San Benito article includes the following quote from a recreationist:

“ ’My husband's been riding there for 30 years, he's fine.  I don't think there is a problem I think it's ridiculous.  And I think that as adults we should choose that if want to put ourselves in that situation, just like we have the right to choose if we can smoke a cigarette,’ says Jackie Murdaugh.”

Well, okay, there’s something to be said about adults being able to choose what they are going to do.  However, the government has a responsibility to protect not just the motorized recreationists, but anyone else who might end up breathing the dust stirred up by those recreationists.  Not to mention the liability the government faces if recreationists become ill at some point in the future and decide to sue over it.

The situation in Libby, MT is extreme, and may not be entirely relevant to the CA recreation area problem.   Nonetheless, the government is doing it's job to protect the public from hazardous materials, even if it means closing a recreation area to off-roaders and non-motorized recreationists.  They should be commended.