Corporate giant W.R. Grace has agreed to a settlement of a class action suit filed against it over their product Zonolite. The agreement closes a chapter in one of the more notorious stories of corporate negligence regarding the hazards of asbestos and the liability associated with asbestos products.
The W.R. Grace Zonolite Story
For about thirty years W.R. Grace operated a mine in Libby Montana that extracted vermiculite, a mineral used to manufacture insulation. The vermiculite mined in Libby contained asbestos, and thousands of tons of it were shipped to at least twenty six sites around the United States, where W.R. Grace manufactured Zonolite asbestos and sold it on the commercial market.
The impact of that mine on the residents of Libby has been tragic, with thousands of people sickened and at least two hundred dead from asbestos-caused diseases. The installation of Zonolite in millions of homes has been at issue in the class action suit that has now reached a tentative agreement. At least ten thousand people have filed claims against W.R. Grace over the fact that the contaminated insulation is or was installed in their homes and costs thousands to remove.
Terms of the Tentative Settlement
Under the terms of the proposed settlement, consumers will be able to file claims for remediation of their contaminated insulation for the next twenty five years. W.R. Grace will make a staged series of payments into a trust that may reach $140 million over time, depending on the number of claims filed.
The terms of the settlement spell out the guidelines for remediation reimbursement, tentatively set at 55% of the job’s cost. According to one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, the cap on most claim payouts would be $4,125. Those are the basic terms of the proposed settlement, which must be approved by a Delaware bankruptcy judge, who will hold a hearing on the settlement in January of 2009.
Zonolite in the Home
For years Zonolite was sold as a do-it-yourself product, putting both installers and home residents at risk. In 1974 W.R. Grace developed a warning label for their insulation, cautioning that it could cause diseases including asbestosis, lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma. Those who are exposed to asbestos, even on just one occasion, incur a greater risk of developing one of the diseases. However the warning label was never released and Zonolite was sold for another ten years.
Asbestos does its physical damage through tiny fibers that are either inhaled or ingested and can, over time, induce asbestosis or mesothelioma cancer in the unwitting victim. If the asbestos in Zonolite produced airborne fibers while being installed or removed, there were tens of thousands of homeowners and their families put at risk.
If your home has or had Zonolite insulation there is a real possibility that you and members of your family have been exposed to hazardous asbestos fibers, especially if you were present or involved in either the installation or removal of the product. If anyone in your family is having persistent respiratory problems, ask the doctor about the possibility of asbestos-related diseases.
Asbestos-Related Diseases
Mesothelioma cancer is relatively rare, but its only known cause is asbestos fibers. The most common form of malignant mesothelioma develops in the membrane surrounding the lungs; initial symptoms include shortness of breath, a persistent cough and chest pain. It is a lethal disease unless in can be diagnosed very early in its development.
Living in a home with Zonolite is reason to be cautious about symptoms that can be attributed to mesothelioma or to asbestosis, a progressive and incurable disease that scars the lungs and greatly reduces breathing capacity.
Your Legal Rights
If you would like free legal counsel on your rights regarding a Zonolite claim against W.R. Grace for remediation of your contaminated insulation or for related health problems, give us a call or fill out the brief form at the top of the page. Several executives of the W.R. Grace firm are under criminal indictment for the way they handled
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