The W.R. Grace & Co. has reported losses for the first quarter of 2009. Part of the blame can be attributed to the ongoing federal trial against the company and five former executives, who have been accused of knowingly exposing the town of Libby, Montana to deadly asbestos during the company’s mining ventures.

Many residents of Libby have since developed asbestos-related diseases, including mesothelioma.

Grace is also hurting from Chapter 11 expenses, lower volumes, and poor exchange rates.

W.R. Grace & Co, a specialty chemicals company, filed for bankruptcy in 2001, in order to resolve asbestos personal injury and property damage claims. The company received approval from a U.S. bankruptcy court to solicit votes for its reorganization plan in March of this year.

For the quarter ending March 31, the company’s net loss was $38.9 million, or 54 cents a share, compared with a net income of $17.7 million, or 24 cents a share, a year earlier.

W.R. Grace has cut jobs, and has plans to further reduce costs.

Shares of W.R. Grace closed at $7.67 Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange.

The federal trial against the company is ongoing. The prosecution wrapped up their case earlier this week, and court is expected to resume on Monday.

Last week, lawyers for Grace argued that the case should be thrown out, due to suspected perjury and preferential treatment given to a government witness who was a former Grace employee who left the company under bitter circumstances.

The court has been in recess since Tuesday, as the presiding judge is out of state.

Asbestos abatement crews are working tirelessly to protect students and faculty at Oklahoma State University.

The asbestos abatement crew is part of the OSU Environmental Health and Safety service.

During a typical day, the asbestos abatement crew spends eight hours removing asbestos from classrooms or equipment involved in renovation process.

The asbestos abatement crew is also responsible for removing damaged asbestos insulation.

The crew is composed of nine people who are specially trained and licensed to deal with asbestos. The team is coordinated by Mr. John Dodson.

“Our primary mission is to protect students, faculty and staff from the health hazards of asbestos,” Dodson says. “Secondarily, we are responsible for keeping the university in compliance with federal and state regulations regarding asbestos. Finally, it is also our goal to provide these services at a lower cost to the university than outside contractors would be able to, as well as providing a response in a much shorter time than outside contractors.”

The service was founded in 1984 to respond to a federal requirement that mandates asbestos materials in schools be addressed.

“No contractors were available to do the work at that time, so OSU elected to begin its own program,” said Dodson.

The crew spends eight hours each inspecting the OSU campus for asbestos, sampling suspect material, analyzing samples in the lab and compiling reports for the inquiring party. The asbestos abatement team is constantly active due to constant repair and maintenance issues in both existing facilities and new buildings in construction.

Federal regulations require asbestos workers be retrained at annually, and Oklahoma state regulations require annual reissue of licenses.

Asbestos inhalation can lead to diseases such as pleural mesothelioma.

In Tulsa, OK, a brand new school is replacing an eighty-four year old schoolhouse with asbestos problems.

The old Clinton Middle School was built in 1925, back when Ford was still producing the Model T.

Additions were built for the old school in 1952 and 1971.

Now the old school will undergo asbestos abatement, and then be demolished. A brand new, state of the art school building will open in the fall. The new building cost $20 million.

Serious concerns had been raised about the old Clinton Middle School. Accessibility, safety, chronic water leaks, and asbestos issues plagued the old building.

As soon as school lets out for the summer, items from classrooms in the old school will be sent to the new multi-million dollar facility.

Demolition of the old building will begin when school lets out for the summer.

"We’ve already got crews doing asbestos abatement (in the old school buildings) on weekends because we’ve got such a tight timeline," said Bob LaBass, executive director of bond projects.

Asbestos abatement can be both time-consuming and costly due to the special precautions that must be taken to protect against an accidental asbestos release. Exposure to asbestos is linked to illnesses such as asbestosis and mesothelioma.

Once demolished, the site of the former 1925 school will be used for parking.

Some brick and limestone from the original 1925 building will be used to construct a historic entrance to the school.

As the W.R. Grace trial unfolds, the true extent of the asbestos contamination in Libby, Montana is coming to light.

In a 2008 report, a mortality study at the Center for Asbestos Related Disease in Libby was conducted.

The study lists more than 1,800 active cases of asbestos-related disease caused by exposure to the toxic substance mined for decades in the town. The study is unique because it is the first study to attribute scores of deaths to non-occupational asbestos exposures. The study finds that 77 non-miners have died of asbestos disease in Libby since 1998.

During the trial, prosecutors have been limited to discussing just one non-occupational exposure death, due to an agreement created prior to the start date of the trial that required full disclosure to the defense attorneys regarding all sources.

In February 2005, the W.R. Grace Company and five employees were charged with a federal conspiracy involving Clean Air Act violations and obstruction of justice. At the heart of the trial are two questions: Did W.R. Grace know that they were endangering the community of Libby by mining asbestos-laced ore? And did they do so in violation of federal law?

Prosecutors have a difficult task ahead of them. Complicating matters is the fact that the criminal provision to the Clean Air Act wasn’t enacted until 1990, the same year the Libby mine ceased operations. Prosecutors must prove that Grace committed overt criminal acts not only after 1990, but also after a 1999 statute of limitations.

To argue their case, prosecutors are attempting to show that normal human activity in Libby has continued to disturb the vermiculite left behind by the W.R. Grace operations. This vermiculite has caused the illnesses of many members of the Libby community.

The rare cancer mesothelioma is believed to be almost exclusively caused by asbestos exposure.

In Redmond, Oregon, a local high school has been evacuated due to fears of an asbestos release.

At the Redmond High School, officials evacuated and sealed off the gymnasium on Friday after asbestos-tainted material was dislodged from the ceiling. The material was knocked off the ceiling when a tennis ball struck the surface of the ceiling.

The gym is closed until further notice.

Stephanie Curtis, the Redmond School District’s Communication Officer, said in a statement that the impact of the tennis ball caused spray-on fire retardant to fall to the gymnasium floor.

After the area was evacuated, the district contacted Alpine Abatement and Paulson Environmental to arrange for the necessary testing and clean-up. The school must now be tested in order to ensure that unacceptable levels of asbestos are not present.

"The safety of our students and staff is always our first concern and there is no reason to believe that anyone was at risk," states JB Demaris, Facilities Manager for Redmond High School.

"We are, however, proceeding under the standards we are required to follow for cleanup and testing in these types of incidents."

When inhaled, asbestos fibers can work their way into the soft tissues of the lungs, abdomen, and pericardium, leading to the rare cancer mesothelioma.

Once common around the world in building materials, asbestos is now banned in dozens of countries. Although the United States has yet to ban the toxic substance, it is regulated. Asbestos was once prized for natural resistance to flame and chemical damage. Asbestos was once a common component in building materials such as fireproofing, insulation, floor tiles, ceiling tiles, and siding.

p>The Colony Plaza Hotel in Ocoee, FL, is finally slated to be demolished after over a decade of waiting.

Known by locals as “the pink monster”, the hotel is an eyesore.

County commissioners have approved demolition of the hotel, and it will be demolished in 30-45 days.

The “pink monster” was once a thriving hotel, but now it is an empty shell, with open elevator shafts and squatters, as well as a known asbestos problem.

The county commissioners have declared that the asbestos-ridden building must be torn down, as the structure is a current health and safety issue.

"This building was nothing but a place for vandals, thieves and homeless to come in and just have an absolute free for all," said Rich Lorenz, an employee from an asbestos removal company.

The estimated cost of demolition and asbestos abatement for the Colony Plaza Hotels is approximately $700,000.

The funding for the demolition and asbestos abatement for this project will come from the community redevelopment agency, which is a tax the city put in place several years ago to help specific areas that need improvement.

Asbestos abatement is a costly, but necessary step in any demolition project. Left untreated, the asbestos in the building would become airborne during demolition. Once airborne, asbestos could be inhaled by workers or nearby residents. Asbestos inhalation is linked to lung cancer, asbestosis, and mesothelioma.

Asbestos is common in older buildings. Asbestos is found in materials such as insulation, floor and ceiling tiles, fireproofing, and other common building materials.