Kirk Johnson of the New York Times (NYT 2/19/09) has a really great article on the federal criminal trial of executives of WR Grace & Company taking place in Missoula, Montana for deaths (at least 200) and disabilities from asbestosis, mesothelioma, and lung cancer arising from the Vermiculite Mine in Libby, Montana. The article corrects some of the tremendous amount of misinformation out in the media about this matter, which the article accurately describes as “one of American history’s worst industrial disasters.”
First of all, the mine in Libby (a truly remote place in the Northwest corner of Montana) was not an asbestos mine, it was a vermiculite mine. Vermiculite itself is pretty harmless stuff used in building materials, potting soil and the like, but the vermiculite in the Libby mine was contaminated with amphibole asbestos. Second, the asbestos liability of WR Grace nationally that drove it into bankruptcy has virtually nothing to do with the Libby operation – it has to do with mined asbestos that was added to WR Grace products, in particular the sprayed fireproofing/insulation product known as Monokote (MK 3 was the last version to have asbestos added). Third, the apologists for the asbestos industry who prattle about what industry “really” knew in the 1930s and 40s can put a sock in it. WR Grace only got the mine (as a part of a purchase of the Zonolite company, from which the Monkote product line also came) in 1963 and became aware of the amphibole contamination hazard in the in 1970s at the latest, and continued to operate the mine until 1990.
There are difficulties of proof, First Amendment issues (can a company say something publicly that it knows is bogus, is that constitutionally protected speech?) and, of course, the federal prosecutors have to prove every element beyond a reasonable doubt. The five executives in the dock are facing up to 15 years in the can if they are convicted. Unfortunately for them, executives of big corporations aren’t very popular right now.
Tags: asbestos, mesothelioma, vermiculite, WR Grace
