Asbestos clinic forced to close in Montana town where thousands have been sickened by dust

BILLINGS, Mont. – An asbestos screening session successful a tiny Montana municipality wherever thousands person been sickened by toxic particulate from a adjacent excavation has been abruptly shuttered by authorities pursuing a tribunal bid to prehend the clinic’s assets to wage disconnected a judgement to the railroad BNSF.

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office closed connected Wednesday the Center for Asbestos Related Disease successful Libby, astir 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the U.S.-Canada border. The municipality of astir 3,000 radical is adjacent a excavation that produced asbestos particulate for decades, and the session has been astatine the forefront of efforts to assistance victims.

Courts successful Montana person said BNSF contributed to the contamination erstwhile it brought contaminated material from the excavation done town, and the railway separately faces galore lawsuits from asbestos victims successful Libby and surrounding communities.

But the Texas-based railway prevailed successful a 2023 suit alleging the session fraudulently made immoderate patients eligible for authorities benefits erstwhile it knew they were not sick. The railway challenged the validity of implicit 2,000 diagnoses by the session and 337 were ruled false.

The railway brought the suit connected behalf of the national government, which provides specialized Medicare services to Libby’s asbestos victims. BNSF was entitled to a stock of the $6 cardinal judgement against the clinic, and aft adding successful lawyer fees, tribunal costs and interest, the railway says it’s present owed $3.1 million.

“The justice determined the magnitude of damages to beryllium repaid, and the process for betterment is acceptable by law," BNSF spokesperson Kendall Kirkham Sloan said successful a statement.

Clinic Executive Director Tracy McNew said the closure would person a wide interaction connected nationalist wellness successful the Libby country arsenic less radical are screened for asbestos-related wellness problems.

“CARD remains committed to its patients and the Libby assemblage and volition combat to reopen arsenic soon arsenic possible,” McNew said successful a statement.

The session for much than 20 years has provided wellness screenings, monitoring and attraction of patients with problems caused by asbestos exposure. It declared bankruptcy aft the judgement successful the fraud lawsuit was handed down. It kept operating and didn’t wage the wealth nether a colony reached successful bankruptcy tribunal with the national authorities that included BNSF.

CARD bankruptcy lawyer James “Andy” Patten said the railway's attempts to cod connected the fraud judgement violated the bankruptcy settlement, which was approved by a national court.

Sloan declined to remark connected the bankruptcy settlement.

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.