• Enhancing the safety and health protection of the U.S. work
force.
• Expanding and applying occupational safety and health
knowledge to new workplaces, products, and processes.
• Ensuring that worker training and re-training for these new
jobs includes relevant safety and health information.
NIOSH also will conduct a workshop Dec. 14–16, 2009, on incorporating occupational safety and health considerations into
green and sustainability efforts. The workshop will include invited
participants and limited space will be available to the public.
EPA Declares Public Health Emergency
at Montana Site
EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson announced in June that a
public health emergency exists at the Libby asbestos site in
northwest Montana. Over several years, hundreds of asbestos-re-lated disease cases have been documented in this small community, which covers the towns of Libby and Troy.
According to a June 17 EPA press release, this is the first time
the agency has made a determination under the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CER-
CLA) that conditions at a site constitute a public health emer-
gency. This determination recognizes the serious impact to the
public health from the
contamination at Libby
and underscores the need
for further action and
health care for area resi-
dents who have been or
may be exposed to as-
bestos.
