At peak output, the Libby mine was producing 80% of the world's vermiculite. The CARD is aware that many other towns and cities will soon realize that they too have community-wide Libby amphibole asbestos exposure issues to address. The latency of asbestos-related diseases has allowed the serious health-related problems of asbestos exposure to go unrealized in many communities thus far. However, vermiculite contaminated with Libby amphibole asbestos was shipped to nearly 300 processing plants around the country. The story of the ”Libby amphibole“ is characterized by the following map showing shipment sites to which the ore was shipped for further processing:

The ore was distributed to these sites via railway and trucking which were often uncovered enroute, thus creating another potential asbestos exposure pathway along the transportation routes. CARD has already seen individuals affected due to this exposure pathway. Upon delivery, the ore was exfoliated. Exfoliation is a process in which vermiculite ore is heated at high temperatures to expand or ”pop“ it. These facilities are of particular concern because exfoliation released countless tons of asbestos-laden dust into the surrounding communities, at levels much greater than other processing methods.

Of these sites that received contaminated Libby vermiculite, the Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is currently working with the 28 most contaminated sites. This is considered Phase 1 which includes a review of the 28 sites that ATSDR selected because they fell into at least one of two categories: 1) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mandated further action at the site on the basis of current contamination; OR 2) The site was an exfoliation facility that processed roughly 100,000 tons or more of vermiculite from the Libby mine. The following map identifies these sites as a W. R. Grace installation or other manufacturers that were shipped Libby ore.