Legacy of Libby: Bozeman woman surviving with asbestosis

By NICK GEVOCK Chronicle Staff Writer

Amy Rody lugs "Charlie" with her wherever she goes.

The oxygen tank goes with her to the store, the Senior Center and on walks. The petite 74-year-old tucks the tank in a nylon bag with a shoulder strap to make it easy to carry.

"For 10 years I've been sucking on that hose," Rody said recently in her Bozeman home. "It's a pain."

The oxygen makes her nose run and Rody always keeps a tissue handy. But without the tank, she loses her breath within seconds.

Rody grew up in Libby, former home of the W.R. Grace Co. vermiculate mine, and has asbestosis. The disease is caused by breathing tremolite asbestos, which has fishhook-like fibers that embed in the lungs. Once a person gets asbestosis, they take it to the grave.

When Rody was growing up, her father, like everyone in town, hauled loads of vermiculite from the mine's tailings pile to the family home. They spread it in the garden and put it in the walls for insulation.

"Everybody used it," she said. "It was a wonderful product."

No one knew that they were spreading incredibly toxic dust.

Asbestosis has inflicted more than 1,200 people in the Libby area. Rody herself has lost two brothers and a sister-in-law, along with a long list of other relatives.

Although she left Libby more than five decades ago, Roby herself waas diagnosed in 1985. Despite her loss and suffering, Rody takes her disease in stride.

"It's just something I have to live with," she said. "I progressively can see I'm slipping too. But for a person who's been on oxygen for 10 years, I'm doing pretty good."

Rody illustrates the far-reaching effects of the contamination in Libby. She never worked at the mine, nor did anyone in her family, but they still contracted the disease.

This past week federal officials indicted W.R. Grace and seven current or former employees on 10 counts of attempting to conceal information about the extent of contamination, obstructing the government's investigation and clean up, and engaging in wire fraud.

The indictments are the culmination of years of work by Libby residents, said Gayla Benefield, Rody's niece and a tireless advocate for those damaged by the mine.

Benefield, too, has been diagnosed with asbestosis and lost both her parents to the disease.

"There's a sense of relief that someone is being held accountable," she said. "It is going to bring closure to a lot of people that have lost family."

Rody said she's not particularly bitter about her family's plight, although she said that if Grace executives did know about the dangers of the vermiculite the government should "sock it to them."

But she's not losing sleep over whether the executives will spend time behind bars. She's just glad people are still paying attention to Libby and the pain the town has had to endure.

"It's being acknowledged, and that's the main thing," she said.

Rody has never received compensation for her suffering from Grace. The company pays for her medical screenings, but her oxygen is covered by Medicare.

In spite of her condition, Rody remains active. She volunteers at the Bozeman Senior Center, gets out of the house nearly every day and takes walks.

Benefield acknowledged that she is bitter about the loss of her parents. But she's glad her aunt is living her life to the fullest and not angry about her condition.

"She's a true inspiration to all of us, because she is able to get on with her life," Benefield said. "She's accepting the full burden of living in Libby."

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