Home-Grown Asbestos

According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), there are 142 former asbestos mines in the continental United States. Of these, only a handful of mines in a few states (California, Vermont, Arizona, and North Carolina) have produced large, commercial quantities of asbestos. Starting in the early 1960s, multiple large, open-pit mines in California were brought on line, greatly increasing the country’s domestic production. Before that, from roughly 1900 to the late 1950s, “home-grown” asbestos was largely confined to the Eden and Lowell mines at the base of 3,376-foot-high Belvidere Mountain in Northern Vermont.

Tim Healey The Eden and Lowell asbestos mines in the Mount Belvidere area of Vermont operated from roughly 1900 to the early 1990s. The mine’s eight-story-high processing mill is shown in the background. At the mill, asbestos fibers were separated from the crushed ore via air suction, then filtered through various mesh screens for grading purposes.

Chrysotile asbestos or “white asbestos,” the most common type of asbestos mined in the U.S., was first discovered in the Belvidere Mountain area in the 1820s. By 1899, two mines on either side of the mountain had opened: the Eden mine on Belvidere’s south slope and the Lowell mine (the larger of the two) a mile or so to the east. Geologically, these mines are the southern tip of the Quebec asbestos belt—vast deposits of chrysotile asbestos in Quebec Province, Canada—starting some 60 miles north of the Vermont border with the Jeffrey Mine in the French-Canadian town of Asbestos and heading northeast 50 miles to Thetford Mines, Quebec. These Canadian mines were among the largest in the world and they dwarfed U.S. production of asbestos (historically, the U.S. produced enough asbestos for roughly 10% of its manufacturing needs and imported the rest from Canada, Russia, and South Africa).

The Lowell Mine mill, circa 1954. Vermont Life Magazine noted in a Spring 1954 article, "Vermont Makes Silk from Stone," that the mine worked “around the clock, six days a week and employed 240 men (and an additional 60 contractors) and just one woman—the office secretary.” And, “On average, six percent of the ore milled is recovered asbestos. The remaining 94 percent is rock waste, accounting for the huge piles of tailings.” — Image courtesy of Vermont Life The Lowell Mine mill, circa 1954. *Vermont Life Magazine* noted in a Spring 1954 article, "Vermont Makes Silk from Stone," that the mine worked “around the clock, six days a week and employed 240 men (and an additional 60 contractors) and just one woman—the office secretary.” And, “On average, six percent of the ore milled is recovered asbestos. The remaining 94 percent is rock waste, accounting for the huge piles of tailings.”

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In 1936, the Ruberoid Co. (maker of building products such as asbestos-cement shingles, house sidings, and protective paints) bought the Belvidere Mountain quarries from local owners and began what would be the country’s first modern, large-scale open-pit asbestos mining operation. Ruberoid merged with General Aniline & Film in 1967 (changing its name to the GAF Corp.) and continued its mining operation. But as health issues associated with asbestos came more into public focus in the early 1970s, and costs to comply with new environmental regulations (the Clean Air Act of 1970 classified asbestos as a hazardous air pollutant) mounted, GAF scheduled to close the mine in 1975.

Image courtesy of Abestorama During the mine's 100-year history, mining operations ownership changed hands a few times. Lowell Lumber & Asbestos Co. and New England Asbestos Mining and Milling began mining for chrysotile asbestos around 1900. The Ruberoid Company bought the mines in 1936 and built the first large-scale open-pit asbestos mining operation in America. Above left, asbestos fiber is loaded into 100-lb. bags at Ruberoid Co.’s Vermont mine, circa 1950. In 1967, Ruberoid merged with General Aniline and Film Corporation and was renamed the GAF Corp. Employees bought the mine from GAF in 1973, forming a new company called the Vermont Asbestos Group (VAG)—becoming one of the few employee-owned mines (of any kind) in the country. Above right is a vintage nylon-woven VAG asbestos bag.

In an effort to save hundreds of jobs (the mine was the largest employer in the region), its workers bought the mine from GAF. They raised $2 million for the purchase (most of which was used to retrofit the plant for the required environmental dust-control equipment) and named the new company the Vermont Asbestos Group (VAG). In 1977, the Copperopolis mine in California eclipsed the Eden-Lowell mine as the biggest producer of asbestos in the U.S.

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Asbestos was once marketed as a “magic mineral”—its fibers are soft and flexible yet resistant to heat, electricity, and chemical corrosion. Pure asbestos was mixed into a plethora of products to make them stronger, long-lasting, and heat-resistant (images above). Ruberoid, and other manufacturers, used asbestos in roll roofing, shingles, felts, siding, cement, floor tile, pipe coverings, brake linings, theatre curtains, and spray-on fireproofing. Note: Zonolite insulation, shown above, is technically vermiculite (mined in Libby, Montana), which can be contaminated with asbestos.

From the late 1970s to early 1990s, VAG survived ownership battles, labor strikes, and dwindling demand for its product. No longer profitable, the Eden-Lowell asbestos mine officially shut down all operations in 1993, 25 years ago.