LIBBY, Mont. — Dozens of feet of tubing connect Gayla Benefield to her oxygen machine so she can walk from room to room inside her home on the picturesque Kootenai River, surrounded by the Cabinet Mountains. Like many people who live in this remote town about 80 miles from the U.S.-Canada border, the 81-year-old Benefield has asbestosis, or scarring of the lungs from asbestos exposure. Her father worked at a now-closed mine that supplied most of the world’s vermiculite, a mineral with a wide variety of uses in insulation, fireproofing, and even gardening. The mine closed in 19...

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