Jenkins Mine

The Jenkins Mine was a chrysotile asbestos mine located in northern Vermont, part of the Belvidere Mountain asbestos district that operated from the early 20th century until the closure of the U.S. domestic asbestos mining industry in the 1990s. It produced serpentine-hosted chrysotile fibers that were processed and sold into a wide range of American industrial and consumer products. The site is now an inactive mine with significant environmental remediation concerns related to asbestos tailings.

Origin

The mine takes its name from the Jenkins family land holdings on Belvidere Mountain in Lamoille and Orleans Counties, Vermont. Asbestos mining in this district began around 1899, with the Jenkins workings developed as part of the broader Vermont Asbestos Group (VAG) operations that became the last major chrysotile producer in the United States.

Significance in Asbestos Context

For patients trying to trace the source of the fibers that caused their disease, the Jenkins Mine matters because Vermont chrysotile was a domestic alternative to Canadian (Quebec) and overseas asbestos and was distributed to manufacturers across the eastern United States. Fiber characterization studies, including electron microscopy and trace-element analysis, can sometimes distinguish Vermont chrysotile from Quebec or Russian chrysotile based on accessory minerals and morphology, which can support provenance analysis in a case. If your work history places you near Vermont-supplied products (insulation, roofing, joint compounds, friction products from the mid-20th century), identifying Jenkins/VAG-sourced material can help connect your exposure to specific manufacturers and time periods.

Example Sentence

The plaintiff's mineralogy expert testified that the chrysotile fibers recovered from lung tissue were consistent with Vermont-source material from operations including the Jenkins Mine, supporting the exposure history described by the family.

Related Terms

Chrysotile, Vermont Asbestos Group, Belvidere Mountain, Provenance Analysis, Serpentine, Fiber Burden Analysis

Notes

• If a family member worked in Vermont mining, milling, or transport between roughly 1900 and 1993, document employer names, dates, and job duties. Jenkins and adjacent VAG operations employed many local workers and exposure can extend to household contacts through take-home fibers.
• Ask your legal team whether provenance analysis (matching lung-burden fiber characteristics to specific mine sources) is worthwhile in your case; it is more useful when defendants dispute that their product contained domestic versus imported chrysotile.
• Preserve any product packaging, purchase records, or shipping documents that reference Vermont Asbestos Group, VAG, or Belvidere Mountain suppliers. These can tie a specific manufacturer to the Jenkins source.
• Residents near the Belvidere Mountain site with environmental (non-occupational) exposure should mention proximity to the tailings piles when giving exposure history to physicians and counsel.