Questioning the safety of home

To the Editor:

This letter is in response to the recent discovery of asbestos contaminated rocks in Troy. I have come to the conclusion that the clean up in northwestern Montana is beginning to border on the ridiculous. It will never be finished, there will always be hazardous material somewhere in the area.

It may be time to call it a day and just evacuate the place. Make it a park, a park with warning signs that declare the possible dangers of entering the area. Leave it at that! Enter at your own risk! Let the Grizzly bears and the deer have it back!

Don't get me wrong I love the place, I bring my children back to visit every year but now I am wondering, is that a good idea? They play in the lakes and the streams and hike the trails. Did I just give them the same thing that makes my chest hurt when the air is thick with humidity in St. Louis? Did I expose them to the possible death sentence that hangs over my head every day? The answer seems to be yes. Libby to me will always be home. Is it a home I should only visit through pictures and phone calls? The answer to that question seems to also be a yes.

I read Mike Crill's letters and think no way (no offense Mike) but when I think about it, his words ring true. Who is telling the truth? Who knows how far the contamination has crept into every cranny in the area? To be honest with you, who really cares about the people of Libby? The history of the United States is full of tragedies but the media and most Americans pay more attention to Lindsay Lohan than they do the environment. So I have little hope. Until more attention is given to Libby and the millions of other Americans who face daily asbestos exposure, nothing will ever change.

R. Corey Foreman

St. Louis, Mo.