Libby’s mesothelioma victims await the jury’s verdict in W.R. Grace trial
The whole country has followed the eleven week criminal trial against asbestos manufacturer W.R. Grace and a handful of its former executives. But nowhere has it been watched with more intensity than in Libby, Montana, where asbestos contamination from W.R. Grace’s vermiculite mine has caused hundreds to die of mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases.
After nearly three months of evidence and testimony, as well as dozens of motions and heated exchanges, the two sides spent a long day summarizing the case and their positions in closing arguments.
The defense argued that the tragedy that occurred in Libby should not be confused with criminal acts, and that prosecutors had compounded the tragedy through misconduct and overreaching.
The prosecutors say that the evidence shows that W.R. Grace executives knew how dangerous the company’s products and operations were but hid that knowledge from the government and from consumers, mine workers and the residents of Libby. Prosecutor Kris McLean said the case was simply about holding the company responsible for “a horrible wrong.”
A big issue in the case is whether W.R. Grace’s wrongful actions fell within the applicable time period to be considered a criminal violation of the Clean Air Act. The criminal provision of the Clean Air Act was not enacted until 1990, the same year the mine closed. The statute of limitations further restricts the time period within which the criminal acts must have occurred.
It’s a complicated case and pursuing criminal charges for environmental contamination is still uncommon. But to the hundreds of victims in the small town of Libby, it must seem that what happened there—what happened to them—was a crime. And W.R. Grace’s protests that it was a tragedy, but not a crime, must be hand to stomach.
All anyone can do now is wait for the jury to act.
For the full story, go to The Missoulian.
