FILE - The W.R. Grace vermiculite mine is shown, outside of Libby, Mont., Feb. 17, 2010. Libby, a town of about 3,000 along the Kootenai River, had widespread contamination from asbestos-tainted vermiculite that was stored in town and transported by rail across the U.S. for use as insulation and other purposes. Contamination in the town has been cleaned up but the mine has not been addressed. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
Respiratory therapist Vernon Johnson, left, conducts a pulmonary test on Christine Ekstedt at the Center for Asbestos Related Disease, Thursday, April 4, 2024, in Libby, Mont. The clinic has diagnosed thousands of people with asbestos-related disease following contamination from a nearby mine for vermiculite, a product that was shipped across the U.S. by rail for use as insulation and other purposes. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
FILE - The town of Libby, Mont., is seen Feb. 17, 2010. Thousands of people have been sickened and hundreds killed by asbestos contamination in the Libby area. Most of the contamination has been cleaned up but the long latency period of asbestos-related diseases means people continue to get diagnosed with illnesses. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
This photo from the 1960s shows a baseball field next to a railyard in Libby, Mont., where asbestos-tainted vermiculite was stored after being mined from a nearby mountain. Thousands of people have been diagnosed with asbestos-related illnesses from exposure in the Libby area. A trial starts Monday in a lawsuit against BNSF Railway from the estates of two people who used to live in Libby and died from mesothelioma, a rare lung cancer caused by asbestos exposure. (The Western News via AP)
Dr. Lee Morissette shows an image of lungs damaged by asbestos exposure, at the Center for Asbestos Related Disease, Thursday, April 4, 2024, in Libby, Mont. The Libby area was contaminated by asbestos-contaminated vermiculite from a nearby mine that was shipped through by rail. The town has been largely cleaned up, but health officials say the long latency period for asbestos-related diseases means people will continue to be diagnosed with illnesses for years. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)