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.