I can't seem to make a link that works to that first article, Ebbie. It is still one of the featured articles in the scrolling news box on AOL.com, but don't know how long it will be up.

Here is information from the EPA http://www.epa.gov/asbestos/pubs/verm.html.

The mines at LIbby provided 70% of the vermiculite sold in the USA between 1919 and 1990. and was in production for approximately 75 years. The Grace Company, owner of the Libby mine, stopped producing the Zonolite insulation in the early 1980's, "for economic reasons." Until then, it was widely used as attic insulation, and is thought to be in something like 35 million homes.