WASHINGTON (AP)
Mortgage giant Fannie Mae will give $75,000 to boost housing in Libby, Mont., Montana Sen. Max Baucus announced Thursday. Fannie Mae CEO Daniel Mudd joined in the announcement at a news conference in Washington, saying the organization will fund a housing assistance program to help people pay for their own homes. The grant will also go toward a Web site designed to help people who have financial questions and the development of a Lincoln County growth plan, among other things. Mudd said the grant was a start. “We can’t solve all the problems but we’ll do what we can,” he said. Baucus, a Democrat, said the project is one way to help the people of Libby, many of whom have been sickened by asbestos fibers released by the now-closed W. R. Grace and Co. Vermiculite mine. The vermiculite, used in a variety of household products, contained tremolite asbestos that was released into the air and carried home on miners’ clothing. It is blamed by some health authorities for killing about 200 people and sickening one of every eight Libby residents. The mine closed in 1990. The EPA has declared the area a Superfund site, and many houses have been cleaned or destroyed because of lingering asbestos fibers.
