Residents are still reeling after a jury on May 12 acquitted W.R. Grace and three executives of knowingly exposing residents to asbestos and then covering it up. After more than 200 deaths and 1200 or more instances of lung cancer and other diseases in the town related to asbestos exposure, folks there just can’t see how the company was freed from all responsibility.
W.R. Grace owned and operated a vermiculite mine near the town for decades; the mine was contaminated with tremolite asbestos, a substance known as early as the 1950′s to cause mesothelioma. The substance was linked to other lung diseases much earlier. The U.S. Government has called the Libby, Montana area the largest environmental disaster due to the extensive asbestos contamination.
Federal prosecutors indicted W.R. Grace and three executives for charges such as trying to “defraud the United States and others by impairing, impeding and frustrating” the EPA’s investigation of the mine in 1999, conspiring to “knowingly release” asbestos, conspiring to hide the hazards of inhaling asbestos from workers and neighbors, wire fraud, obstruction of justice, and more. The trial lasted 10 weeks.
Some legal experts question the fairness of the trial: in particular, they question the Judge’s decision to withhold evidence from the jury because it was deemed overly prejudicial. With one individual still awaiting trial in connection with the case, the Office of Public Affairs and the Department of Justice are withholding comment on the jury’s finding.
Fred Festa, Chairman, CEO and President of W. R. Grace said, in a written statement, that he was “gratified” by the verdict. He also stated that, “the company worked hard to keep the operation in compliance with the laws and standards of the day.”
With the stakes for W.R. Grace so high, we can certainly see why they were “gratified” by the acquittal. Tragically, the residents of Libby have no such reprieve. The pain and suffering caused by their asbestos exposure will slash at this community for years to come.
Tags: asbestos, mesothelioma, vermiculite, WR Grace
