For decades, officials at all levels of government refused to confront growing evidence that hundreds of residents in Libby, Montana were getting sick or dying from asbestos-related lung diseases caused from exposure to particles at a local vermiculite mine. Ultimately, a subsequent owner of the mine, W.R. Grace was acquitted of responsibility for the human-caused disaster but the verdict did not resolve the question of who is to blame. NEPA is one law to prevent such disasters from happening.