Asbestos from one of the nation’s worst
Superfund sites has killed over 200 in Libby, Mont., and infected
hundreds more with lung disease (HCN, 3/13/00: Libby’s dark
secret).
To outsiders, life in Libby might seem
unfathomable. But in the video documentary, Dust to
Dust, director Michael Brown shows how residents manage
to persevere in the shadow of a mine that spewed deadly
asbestos-laced dust over the town for decades. Brown intertwines
vintage footage with mine executives’ courtroom testimony,
and clips of contentious town meetings, to reveal how company
officials kept secret their knowledge that miners were
dying.
But it’s the voices of Libby’s
residents that breathe life into the story. Brown interviews some
30 people, all diagnosed with asbestos-related illness, to
underscore Libby’s working-class character — stoic,
reserved and once extremely loyal to the mining company. Yet this
stoicism doesn’t mask the anger or bitterness many now
feel.
Dust to Dust does the Libby story
justice, providing a voice to describe an indescribable
tragedy.
VHS copies of Dust to Dust are
available for $25.00 from Michael Brown Productions, Inc., P.O. Box
121206, Arlington, Texas, 76012, or email Brown at
michael@mbpvideo.com.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline As the dust settles.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
