Charles Dickens was writing a tale of two cities. But his words – that “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times’’ – perfectly describe the tale of one this week.

After nearly a decade of fighting for and failing to get emergency help for the people poisoned by asbestos-contaminated vermiculite in Libby, Mont., the federal government finally came through Wednesday.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson announced that Libby would get the first Public Health Emergency declaration in the history of Superfund.

“This is a tragic public health situation that has not received the recognition it deserves by the federal government for far too long,” said the EPA boss. She added that her agency will move aggressively on the cleanup efforts and to protect the health of the people.

Meanwhile, in a federal courthouse in Missoula, Mont.,  criminal charges were dropped against the only remaining defendant in the government’s prosecution of the W.R. Grace Co. for its role in the asbestos poisoning of Libby.

Federal prosecutors dismissed charges on Monday against O. Mario Favorito, Grace’s  in-house lawyer. The move was expected after last month’s acquittal of the worldwide chemical company and three of its top executives. Grace owned the vermiculite mine that spewed asbestos-laced dust across the small town.                          Seattle PI photo of the W.R. Grace mine and Libby.

On May 8, 2009, after 38 days of testimony spread over three months, a jury in Missoula found and company and its executives not guilty on all charges relating to a criminal conspiracy involving Clean Air Act violations and obstruction of justice. Because of potential conflicts of interest, the corporate lawyer was scheduled to stand trial alone in September.

(You can get more details on the trial than you’d ever want by going to last three months of this blog )

Let’s talk a bit about the best of times, or what passes for it in Libby.

Three EPA specialists – an emergency coordinator, a toxicologist and a physician – first asked for the emergency declaration for Libby more than seven years ago to help ensure medical care for the town’s citizens and a proper cleanup of the area.

The Bush White House, some in EPA headquarters and the asbestos lobby successfully battled against the trio to keep the emergency declaration from being declared.

But yesterday, Jackson and Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, said Libby’s wait was over.

“For way too long, many here in Washington have turned a blind eye to the needs of the residents in Libby,” Sebelius said. “Those days are over.”

The declaration permits the cleanup coordinators to spend what money is required to do the extensive cleanup of the particularly toxic form of asbestos heavily contaminating the town.

HHS is giving $6 million to provide medical care for Libby’s asbestos victims. An agency health official familiar with the health needs of the community told me that HHS will “cover the full medical charges – oxygen, medication, hospitalization, what ever is needed” for those without insurance and wi