When people think of Silicon Valley, computers and technology companies spring to mind. But just outside of Silicon Valley, there is a beautiful piece of public land that is ideally suited for hiking, picnics, nature enthusiasts, and dirt bike riders. This parcel of land, known as the Clear Creek management area, contains asbestos, a material linked to various cancers such as mesothelioma.

The dirt bike trails have been closed, and the public has been warned to stay away from the area. Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral, with deposits all over the United States. Clear Creek is home to one the largest asbestos mineral deposits in America. In May of 2008, the Bureau of Land Management shut down the site after a study by the EPA found dangerously high levels of a particular type of chrysotile asbestos in the air. According the EPA study, hiking the area once a year could increase the risk of developing an asbestos-related illness, with the odds being about one in a million. The EPA calls that level of risk acceptable. However, with activities that kick up more debris into the air such as dirt biking or riding an ATV, the risk jumped to 1 in 100, assuming the riders visited the area 12 times a year in a 30 year period.

Local bikers argue that the study exaggerated the risks, and want to return to the trails. In an attempt to discredit the EPA study, a coalition of bikers got together and hired Ed Ilgren, a pathologist from Pennsylvania, to testify that the chrysotile at Clear Creek is nontoxic. Ilgren argues that chrysotile is short-fibered, unlike amphibole asbestos, which is the form of asbestos that has sickened residents of the town of Libby, Montana.

EPA Region 9 toxicologist Arnold Den of San Francisco argues that Ilgren is wrong, stating that all kinds of asbestos can be dangerous. The EPA only tested for fibers longer than five microns at Clear Creek, and it is known that fibers of that length can cause asbestos-related diseases.

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