A federal bankruptcy judge has approved an agreement for W.R. Grace to reimburse the federal government $250 million for the investigation and cleanup of asbestos contamination in Libby, Montana. According to an order signed by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Judith Fitzgerald during a hearing in Pittsburgh, Grace must pay within 30 days.
The asbestos contamination in Libby came from vermiculite mining and processing facilities owned and operated by W.R.Grace from 1963 until the mine’s closure in 1990.
Millions of tons of the asbestos-contaminated vermiculite ore were shipped across the nation for use in insulation, fireproofing, gardening and other products. Exposure in Libby has been blamed for hundreds of cases of asbestosis and mesothelioma, a fast-moving cancer that attacks the lungs. The EPA has said the remaining cleanup work in Libby would probably take three to five years. W.R. Grace sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April 2001 because of lawsuits over asbestos.
Source: In re W.R. Grace & Co., No. 01-1139, settlement approved (Bankr. D. Del. June 2, 2008). For more on this story, go to the Washington Post.
