Montana

2023 - 1 - 11

Montana announces proposed settlement with company linked to ... (KTVH)

Governor Greg Gianforte announced Tuesday a proposed settlement agreement in W.R. Grace & Co.'s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case for the Libby Asbestos Superfund ...

The proposed settlement would resolve the natural resource damage liability of W.R. Grace would additionally provide the State with financial assurance for the operation and maintenance of the Kootenai Development Impoundment Dam for the next 100 years. The new proposed settlement is in addition to the 2008 settlement. The settlement would also resolve their liabilities to the Department of Environmental Quality regarding hazardous or harmful substances, although with certain limited exceptions. and other affiliated companies to the State of Montana for the Libby Asbestos Superfund Site. The proposed settlement is the result of a three-year mediation between the State through DEQ and the Natural Resource Damage Program (NRDP) and W.R. According to studies by the EPA, the mine released around 5,000 pounds of asbestos every day until it closed in 1990. DEQ previously received a $5.1 million settlement in a 2008 bankruptcy settlement with W.R. Grace to pay $18.5 million to resolve the remainder of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality’s claims. The site was added to the EPA’s superfund list in 2002 due to asbestos contamination that resulted from the mining operation. The state says funds would be used to restore, replace, or rehabilitate injured natural resources in the Lincoln County area, and related costs. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, would require W.R.

Montana DPHHS proposes new regulations on Medicaid ... (KTVH)

This week, state regulators will hold a hearing on a proposed rule change that would add more requirements in order for an abortion to be covered by ...

“Abortions are a time-sensitive service, so the mandatory prior authorization is particularly harmful,” she said. “DPHHS must ensure that abortions paid for by Montana taxpayers under Medicaid are truly medically necessary, in accordance with the law,” he said. “It’s functionally an abortion ban for low-income families,” said Aileen Gleizer, a communications consultant with Blue Mountain Clinic. DPHHS leaders said additional documentation is needed to ensure that the state Medicaid program is only covering abortions that are medically necessary. The federal government’s Hyde Amendment prohibits Medicaid funding for abortions, except in cases of rape and incest and when the mother’s life is endangered. It would also say Medicaid reimbursement can only be made when a physician performs an abortion — not a physician assistant or advanced practice registered nurse.

W.R. Grace Offers $18.5M to Settle Montana Asbestos Claims (U.S. News & World Report)

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — The owner of a former vermiculite mine in northwestern Montana that spread harmful asbestos in and around the town of Libby has offered ...

Grace would also provide the state with financial assurances for the operation and maintenance of an impoundment dam that holds asbestos-laden tailings from the former mine. Hundreds of others have filed lawsuits and claims. Grace's workers' compensation insurer from 1963-1973 because the company did not warn workers of those dangers. The state is taking Grace agreed in a 2008 settlement to pay the EPA $250 million for cleanup work. The money would be used to restore, replace or rehabilitate damaged natural resources, state officials said. Grace noted the settlement requires public review and court approval. The additional payments, plus interest, would be made over 10 years. “After years of negotiation following Grace’s historic damage, Libby and communities in Lincoln County can more fully recover,” Gianforte said in a statement. More than 2,600 homes, businesses and other properties were cleaned up at a cost of more than $600 million under the U.S. Cleanup began in 2000, after media reports spurred federal officials to investigate widespread health problems among area residents. Asbestos from a vermiculite mine owned by W.R.

Montana middle schoolers get a taste of Lewis and Clark's time (KTVQ Billings News)

The event features hands-on learning highlighting Lewis and Clark's expedition with eight 30-minute classes.

Each class lasts 30 minutes and every day of the week sees around 150 students. The seventh graders also get a taste of the food Lewis and Clark ate during their journey. They tell me such things as 'thanks for having us' or 'thanks for teaching us this'," Foster said.

Grace & Co., Montana reach $18.5M settlement for some ... (Daily Montanan)

The Libby, Montana site is an asbestos Superfund location. Years of mining vermiculite, the mineral precursor to asbestos, has left the community and those who ...

The settlement would not affect Grace’s requirements to continue to perform Superfund work with the Environmental Protection Agency and the DEQ. A press release from Gianforte’s Office and the DEQ said the funds will be used to restore, replace and rehabilitate affected areas in Lincoln County. Mining asbestos in the U.S., was banned in 2002. Grace & Company’s toxic pollution of Libby has been known in Montana for decades, the long parade of lawsuits and death due to asbestos is still ongoing. It wasn’t just those who worked at the mine or processed the ore who got sick, but because of the lack of safety equipment, coupled with the company’s cover-up, hundreds of people in the Libby area got sick from asbestosis and other lung diseases related asbestos. Years of mining vermiculite, the mineral precursor to asbestos, has left the community and those who worked for the Grace company covered in a dangerous dust that often batters the lungs, causing medical conditions that lie dormant for years, but ultimately cause death.

Libby asbestos case settles for $18.5 million (ABC FOX Montana)

It stems from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality's natural resource damage claims in W.R. Grace's Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. The company- ...

Storm track remains south of Montana (KBZK Bozeman News)

Storm energy will hit California and move into the central Rockies but could clip the southernmost tip of Beaverhead, Madison, and Gallatin Counties along ...

How Montana Took a Hard Right Turn Toward Christian Nationalism (The New York Times)

What happened to a state known for its political independence?

A majority of private schools in the state are Christian, and in 2020 the U.S. Bill Lombardi, a longtime Democratic operative, said the party was “institutionalizing losing.” Jon Tester, the Democratic U.S. Over the course of the three-day platform convention in Billings this summer, numerous speakers appeared to be trying to outdo one another in their performative anger, and it was apparent that the enemies were not limited to the left. (The court declined to lift the injunction and has not signaled that it would reconsider its 1999 decision.) “We’ve got a real judge problem in this state,” Knudsen, who frequently complains about “judicial activism,” said at a firearm-advocacy event last May. But Knudsen, the attorney general, began a counteroffensive, asking the state Supreme Court to overrule the judge — and to reconsider the 1999 case that linked abortion to the State Constitution’s right to privacy. At a 2018 rally, Trump said he thought the attack had helped Gianforte at the polls, adding, [“He’s my guy.”](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/19/us/politics/trump-greg-gianforte-montana.html) The state Department of Health and Human Services also issued an emergency order instructing schools to consider parents’ wishes about mask mandates, claiming that “the scientific literature is not conclusive” on their efficacy. “We have reversed a 100-year trend,” he told the crowd, noting that it was the first time since the 1920s that Republicans controlled all state constitutional offices and a majority of the Legislature. The settlement of a 2012 lawsuit under the Voting Rights Act mandated the establishment of polling places on particular reservations, but it remains common for tribal citizens to have to drive vast distances to vote in statewide and national races. As the strength of timber and railroad unions has faded across much of the state, the state Democratic Party has refocused its organizing efforts on expanding cities and the growing Indigenous vote. In 1972, Montanans approved a new State Constitution, updating the one that was ratified at statehood in 1889. Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat who served as governor from 2005 to 2013, has said that the state’s motto should be: “None of your damn business.”

Ringing in the New Montana (Flathead Beacon)

Proposed changes to the state Constitution include everything from making voting more complicated to outlawing abortion to jerry-rigging taxes to empowering ...

The new Montana is as beautiful as the old Montana and all locals deserve representation, not just the majority. Scrapping more local control to build hundreds or thousands of new apartments in Montana won’t help locals unless the rent is guaranteed affordable to working class people. We have it: the great outdoors, super amenities, fast internet, and that Montana way of life everyone wants to protect. With over two-thirds of the Legislature belonging to one political party, expect plenty of infighting about how best to spend and return the hefty state surpluses that Sen. Today, Montana Republicans control two-thirds of the Legislature and enjoy supermajority powers. The far-right leadership revolt in the U.S.

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