Libby residents and the several people who were sickened due to being exposed to asbestos from a Libby mine continue to hope for a trial that will settle the ongoing case.
Federal lawyers who have taken the case to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals know that the suit filed against W.R. Grace & Co., for concealing the existence of exposure, is near impossible without first having several court decisions that are already practiced reversed.
Case Concealment
According to the prosecutors, officials at Grace had been concealing the health effects of asbestos from residents since the 1970’s.
Last year U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy of Missoula banned the use of documents, studies and witness testimony’s by prosecutors.
Information from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s asbestos sampling, and results from the 7, 300 people who were x-rayed and given medical reviews in Libby have been off limits for evidence use according to Molloy’s ban.
In the testing done, 1,300 of the residents had lung abnormalities that are typically associated with asbestos exposure.
U.S. attorney’s Kris McLean and Todd Aagaard from the Justice Department claim that Molloy’s ruling prevents the government from presenting crucial information in the case.
Both attorneys allege that Molloy has dismissed the most serious charges related to the case, the multiple counts of “knowing endangerment.”
Residents Effected
According to reports and hospital documents, many of Libby’s residents have died and are currently ill from mesothelioma and other diseases related with asbestos.
Dr. Brad Black, the medical director for Libby’s Center for Asbestos Related Disease states, “ Cemeteries and hospitals throughout the Northwest are filled with people fallen by the asbestos from Grace’s vermiculite.”
Charges against Grace were filed in 2005 and Grace and its employees have been accused of criminal conspiracy and knowing endangerment.
Federal lawyers are still waiting on the 9th Circuit decision and a trial has been rescheduled for September.
(Source: flatheadbeacon.com)
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