A longtime asbestos screening clinic in Libby, Montana, closed after a court order allowed BNSF Railway to seize its assets, leaving a community already devastated by toxic exposure without critical health services.
Matthew Brown reports for The Associated Press.
In short:
- Authorities shut down the Center for Asbestos Related Disease (CARD) in Libby, Montana, after a court order allowed BNSF Railway to collect on a $3.1 million fraud judgment related to disputed diagnoses of asbestos-related illness.
- The closure affects residents in a town where asbestos from a nearby mine sickened thousands, and where the clinic had offered screenings, monitoring and treatment for over two decades.
- CARD and its legal team argue the seizure violates a bankruptcy settlement reached with the federal government, but BNSF insists it acted within legal bounds.
Key quote:
“CARD remains committed to its patients and the Libby community and will fight to reopen as soon as possible.”
— Tracy McNew, executive director of the Center for Asbestos Related Disease
Why this matters:
For decades, residents of Libby, Montana inhaled asbestos fibers from vermiculite mined and processed near the town. Exposure has caused widespread cases of lung cancer, asbestosis and mesothelioma, claiming hundreds of lives and impairing thousands more. The Center for Asbestos Related Disease was a key safety net, providing specialized care for people exposed to the lethal dust. Its closure, tied to a corporate lawsuit over allegedly fraudulent diagnoses, has left vulnerable patients with few options. Libby is both a cautionary tale of environmental neglect and now a test case in how bankruptcy law, corporate power, and healthcare access intersect in the aftermath of toxic exposure.
