Investigators from the Montana State Environmental Protection Agency are being called in to determine whether a building lot strewn with asbestos debris is a health hazard to those who live in the area.

A report in the Billings (MT) Gazette notes that the lot, near the town of Cheyenne, has been the source of complaints by many neighbors who believe their health is being affected by the debris, which has been sitting in the lot for nearly a year.

Public health officials held a meeting last year and informed nearby residents that the kind of asbestos debris found on the lot would not be a danger to their health. However, neighbors hired their own contractor to investigate who determined otherwise.

According to the newspaper article, the EPA investigation will include the use of more than a dozen air sampling devices and as many as nine stream sediment samples to see if asbestos on the site is being blown or washed off in quantities detrimental to human health or the environment.

The investigations are scheduled to take place in May with results available within 45 to 60 days.

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