WR Grace Trial - Extent Of Asbestos-Related Illness In Libby, MT "Unheard Of", Says Expert Witness

[hatrack]

MISSOULA – A medical expert testifying Tuesday in the W.R. Grace trial described his disbelief when, arriving in Libby 10 years ago, he found that people who had never worked at Grace's vermiculite mine were dying from asbestos-related disease.

"To see an individual who had died of asbestos-related disease who was not a worker was unheard of," said Dr. Aubrey Miller, a physician and investigator with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "I had never seen a case or heard of a case like that." The Missoulian newspaper reported Miller's testimony on its Web site. U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy overruled defense motions to keep Miller off the stand or restrict his testimony.

Miller testified about a range of product tests that Grace officials used to assess the hazards of Libby vermiculite. Among its findings, Grace learned that the vermiculite had a high tendency to release asbestos fibers into the air, Miller said.

"Grace had information about the asbestos, about the nature of the asbestos to become airborne, they had information about health effects on their workers and they had information about animal studies where the animals were being exposed to the same materials as the workers," Miller said.

EDIT

http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/expert_extent_of_disease_in_libby_unheard_of/8801/

[defendandprotect]

1. Thanks for update . . . didn't read article. . . but seems this case has been going on forever!!!

and that they knew about asbestos problems back into 20's or 30's !!!

[montanacowboy]

2. I am still part of on ongoing study

by the EPA for residents; every two years I have chest xrays and do breathing tests; I know lots of people who have died and family members who suffer. So far everything is OK with us, we never worked at the mine, only lived downwind of it. I expect it to get much broader and more people affected as time goes by. I used that stuff in my garden, it was great to hold the moisture in the soil, it was in our ceilings as insulation and kids even played in it on huge piles.

It is just unfucking believable what they did and continue to do - my son-in-law works on the cleanup and I don't even want to get into that mess.

America...just got to love your corporations

[jwirr]

3. One of the members of my family just died of asbestos in the lungs

last night - his end was not easy. What really angers you is that they knew about this junk.