Books, documentaries follow Libby saga

It didn't take writers and film makers long to tap into the compelling stories of human tragedy that form the tapestry for asbestos problems in Libby.

It didn't take writers and film makers long to tap into the compelling stories of human tragedy that form the tapestry for asbestos problems in Libby.

Several documentaries and books - each with its own style - tell the Libby story.

High Plains Video, a Missoula-based film company, earned favorable reviews for its recent documentary, "Libby, Montana."

The High Country News said film makers Drury Gunn Carr and Doug Hawes-Davis "have never shied away from eliciting strong emotional responses, but the Libby film reaches a new level. It is blunt and painful … viewers feel that they are living through the town's environmental nightmare, and the W.R. Grace Corp. cover-up that followed it."

Another documentary, "Dust to Dust," produced by Texas-based Michael Brown Productions, has won awards for telling its version of Libby residents facing a grave and uncertain future. It will begin running nationally next month on the Starz!/Encore cable channel; broadcast dates are pending.

Journalist Andrea Peacock's book, "Libby, Montana: Asbestos and the Deadly Silence of an American Corporation," was published by Johnson books in 2003.

Peacock, who first covered the Libby story for Mother Jones magazine, digs into the history of W.R. Grace, probing the company's questionable dealings in the 1980s when Grace executive J. Peter Grace - the head of President Ronald Reagan's Grace Commission - is suspected to have suppressed a federal investigation into Libby's asbestos contamination.

Also on the book circuit is "Fatal Deception: How Big Business is Still Killing Us with Asbestos," by Michael Bowker.

It was published in January 2003 by Rodale Press. An investigative journalist, Bowker has developed a niche in environmental and health writing. His writing goes beyond the Libby saga, probing potential asbestos contamination and alleged corporate and governmental coverup in the 9/11 air quality problems at Ground Zero in New York City.

The latest book on Libby, "An Air That Kills: How the Asbestos Poisoning of Libby, Montana Uncovered a National Scandal," was published this year by G.P. Putnam's Sons.

It's co-authored by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Andrew Schneider, deputy assistant managing editor for investigations for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and David McCumber, managing editor of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Schneider formerly worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and wrote extensively about the Libby asbestos issue in coverage that debuted Nov. 18, 1999.

While "An Air That Kills" chronicles Schneider's broader investigations of asbestos contamination in other areas, the heart of the book focuses on Libby. He details the early stage of his investigation and chides regional newspapers for not covering the asbestos contamination.

Schneider also makes it appear he had to drag the story out of Kalispell attorney Roger Sullivan.

"I'm disappointed there's a suggestion we encumbered the story," Sullivan said. "To suggest that this office suppressed the telling of the Libby story is a misrepresentation of the facts."

In a detailed review of an uncorrected manuscript, Sullivan and law partner Jon Heberling pointed out inaccuracies, but essential errors weren't corrected before the book went to press. Prior to Schneider's article, Sullivan said he had made numerous efforts to tell the Libby story in public forums such as the Montana Senate, U.S. Congress, in court and in the media.

He also encouraged reporters from newspapers ranging from The New York Times to the Daily Inter Lake to attend Libby court trials. The Daily Inter Lake subsequently investigated the story and published a series of articles on Nov. 14, 1999.

Schneider notes in his book that "only a handful of short news items buried deep in various small papers had ever been written." His probe apparently didn't turn up articles such as the Sept. 11, 1988, Sunday Missoulian, which bannered across its front page: "Lawsuits allege deadly conditions at mine in Libby."

The Daily Inter Lake and Great Falls Tribune also headlined extensive articles about asbestos lawsuits and related issues in the late 1980s.

Columnist Asta Bowen of Kalispell attended the Finstad trial in Libby in May 1999 and wrote a piece about the asbestos problem the following month for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, nearly six months before Schneider's coverage was published.

Despite bumps along the way, Sullivan said the media coverage has brought attention to the plight of Libby victims and helped to bring about the Environmental Protection Agency investigation and cleanup that will help prevent further injury and suffering.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com