Last week United States Senator Max Baucus from Montana received the Bruce Vento Hope Builder Award at the International Symposium on Malignant Mesothelioma. The award was named after the late Minnesota Congressman who was killed by malignant mesothelioma ten years ago, and is presented to leaders in the campaign for improved education, improved treatments, and a search for a cure to the rare cancer. Senator Max Baucus has been a front line supporter of mesothelioma research and education, and has had first hand experience with the ravages of the disease due to the tragedy in Libby, Montana which has affected so many lives.

Libby is the home of one of the longest surviving asbestos mines in the nation, and was declared a hazardous materials emergency site years ago by the Environmental Protection Agency when investigating agencies found asbestos contamination was rampant throughout the small town. Piles of processed asbestos refuse were deposited at random throughout Libby, and both homes and businesses were found to be contaminated with the toxic asbestos dust that causes mesothelioma, a cancer of the tissues that line the body’s vital organs.

Libby may very well be the largest asbestos contamination site in the United States, and several ongoing studies are working to determine the scale of the damage inflicted on the community.

The Bruce Vento Award was presented in the midst of the convention where more than 300 families affected by mesothelioma, doctors, scientists, and researchers from various fields connected with the disease met to exchange information and support. The International Symposium on Malignant Mesothelioma was hosted by the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation, a non-profit organization that has funded nearly $6.5 million in mesothelioma related research.

While the dangers of asbestos have been well known by some for nearly a century, the awareness of the general public has been rapidly rising over the last several decades due to the slow crumble of the asbestos industry and the rise of asbestos related illnesses. Asbestos related cancer can take decades to develop from the time of exposure, causing a delayed rise in diagnoses of the disease. Today, some two thousand people are diagnosed with mesothelioma every year, and diagnoses are expected to continue rising until beyond the year 2030.