Asbestos is categorized as a group of fibrous metamorphic minerals of hydrous magnesium silicate variety.  There are several different types, including Crocidolite, also known as blue asbestos, Amosite, or brown asbestos, and Chrysotile, or white asbestos.  Each of these are found in different regions of the world; Chrysotile is native to Vermont.  Asbestos has been used for roofing, brake linings, pipe linings, floor and ceiling tiles, thermal insulation, and many other manufactured goods.  Chrysotile is less harmful than the other types since it is less friable, and therefore less inhalable, and has also been the most commonly used.  Health related concerns regarding asbestos started to surface in the early 1900s.  By World War II it became apparent that asbestos’s fine fibers caused cancer, specifically mesothelioma, which affects the chest and abdominal cavities.  Asbestos has also been linked to asbestosis (lung fibrosis), lung cancer, and gastrointestinal cancer.  As a result, asbestos mining in the United States has ceased, the EPA has banned all products that contain at least 1% of asbestos, and courts across the country have seen an influx of asbestos-related litigation (for more on asbestos in general, see Wikipedia).

Asbestos was first mined in Vermont in 1899 on Belvidere Mountain.  Chrysotile deposits of ultramafic rock were quarried in the Mt. Belvidere mines located in Eden and Lowell, Vermont.  The mountain includes serpentinized ultramafic, coarse and fine-grained amphibolite, greenstone, and muscovite schist (see Marjorie Gale’s article on the Geology of Belvidere Mountain).  The New England Asbestos Mining and Milling Company was organized around the turn of the twentieth century, and was the first company in the United States to mine asbestos.  They began mining in Eden but discontinued operations in 1902.  Quarrying and milling began again in the 1920s and by 1929, “the Eden-Belvidere Mountain mines were producing almost all of the asbestos in the United States, and were increasing production yearly” (Wallace, 1990, 4). In 1939, the mine was sold to the Vermont Product Corporation, a subsidiary of the Rubberoid Company, and the mine continued to prosper.  By the 1960s, roughly 3500 tons of ore were mined daily (Hadden, 1996).

In the 1970s, debate started to rage regarding asbestos-related health hazards.  The Mt. Belvidere mines threatened to close in 1974 when the EPA demanded that the current owners, General Alkaline and Film, install anti-pollution equipment.  In response, employees formed the Vermont Asbestos Group (VAG) and bought about 80 percent of the company’s stock (Simmons and Mares, 1983).  There were layoffs in 1980, followed by a strike in 1983, after which the mine operated part time.  In the late 1970s, the mines were said to have produced 30,000 to 35,000 tons of fiber per year.  By 1987, these numbers went down to 10,000 tons (Starr 1993).  To make matters worse, between 1990 and 1994, VAG was charged with dumping carcinogens into state waters by the Environmental Working Group (see the Group’s article, Dishonorable Discharge: Toxic Pollution of Vermont Waters).  The Mt. Belvidere mines closed for good in 1993 after a market decline due to health issues, environmental concerns, and a decrease in product demand.  VAG, primarily owned by Howard Manosh, was forced to sell after owing $125,000 in back taxes for 1991-1992 (Thurston, 1993).  The Mt. Belvidere mines were the last asbestos quarries to close in the eastern United States.  But according to Gale, “the mountain continues to capture the interest of mineral collectors, hikers…, ecologists studying plant communities…, scientists investigating ways to store or dispose of excess carbon dioxide (CO2 sequestration), and others interested in the magnesium rocks” (see Marjorie Gale’s article on the Geology of Belvidere Mountain, Pp. 2).

References:

Hadden, S. H.  1996.  “Minerals of the Quarries of Lowell-Eden, Vermont.”  Rocks and Minerals Magazine 71(4): 236-246. 

Simmons, J. and W. Mares.  1983.  Working Together.  New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.

Starr, T.  1993.  “Lowell Asbestos Mine up for Tax Sale.”  The Chronicle, February 24, 1993.

Thurston, S.  1993.  “Race for Tax Collector Centers Around Asbestos Mine.”  The Chronicle, March 3, 1993.

Wallace, P.  1990.  “Eden Asbestos Mine Among First in U.S.”  News and Citizen, February 22, 1990.