The agency removed contaminated soil several years ago; it will now offer voluntary testing in 30 to 50 homes as a precaution.
The air in several dozen homes in northeast Minneapolis will be tested for asbestos as part of the decade-long cleanup of pollution from an insulation factory, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced (EPA) Tuesday.
From 1938 to 1989, the W.R. Grace Co. and its predecessor, Western Mineral Products Inc., processed vermiculite ore from Montana into home insulation. The factory gave away asbestos-laced waste for homeowners to use as fill in driveways, yards and gardens.
The EPA removed contaminated soil from 268 yards between 2000 and 2004. It has now decided to test the air and dust in 30 to 50 of those homes as a precaution.
"We have no evidence to suggest that indoor air of these homes has been impacted," said Mark Johnson, chief of the Chicago office of the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, which is a partner with the EPA in the research.