When will people, government take action on asbestos?

To the Editor:

As I sit back and read The Western News and other newspapers I often scratch my head in bewilderment. I am seeking to find some way to vent my outrage at the way the cleanup in Libby is going. I am looking for someone somewhere who has some power or influence to actually take notice of the huge miscarriage of justice that is going on in the United States.

When I read the first report of the Ground Zero first responders and cleanup crews dying of asbestos-related disease, I thought, "There you go!" Finally someone will say, "Hey, hold up there partner, this is something we need to look at."

Instead it is simply another piece of news that disappears in time. The families of the victims are the only ones who care. The only ones who are directly influenced by the crimes of W.R. Grace and the members of the government who supported them either through direct action or inaction and apathy.

I just wonder what it will take? I remember the Vietnamese monks burning themselves to protest the war - is that what it is going to take to bring to the attention of anyone who really cares? Will it take an act so out of the realm of the common man's experience to actually prompt some action?

As we all know, the town of Libby is not the only place on this planet to be adversely impacted by these crimes. I live in St. Louis; unfortunately the attic of my former house had a nice layer of W.R. Grace's poison. Also on my way to work every day I pass by the site of a former W.R. Grace expansion plant and wonder how many of those cute little houses and the people who live in them are contaminated.

When will the people and the government we elected take action? The world wonders.

R. Corey Foreman

St. Louis, Mo.