Mesothelioma.com: W. R. Grace Trial Set To Begin, Asbestos Disease Sufferers Eager To Witness Outcome

Jury selection for the W.R. Grace & Company trial will begin today in Missoula, Montana. The mining company based in Columbia, Maryland, had operated a mine in Libby, Montana since 1963 and will be tried on criminal charges for crimes related to asbestos exposure. Grace filed for bankruptcy in 2001 after receiving more than 100,000 asbestos claims from former employees and Libby residents.

The case will bring the company and six of its former executives to trial; all facing allegations of conspiracy, violating the Clean Air Act and obstruction of justice. Grace, a 155-year old company, mined and processed asbestos-tainted vermiculite, popularly used as a fireproofing, insulating and potting soil material, from 1963 to 1990.

The case has been delayed for two years after prosecutors appealed pretrial rulings. The U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which has jurisdiction over the Montana federal district courts, recently reinstated a key conspiracy claim against the defendants.

According to prosecutors, mine workers were not given proper safety equipment or even told of the hidden dangers in the vermiculite. Many would unknowingly bring the asbestos fibers into their homes on the clothing they had worn to work, endangering themselves and their families.

Over 1,200 Libby residents have been killed or contracted asbestos-related diseases such as asbestosis or mesothelioma from the mine. Children living in the town commonly played in the vermiculite piles and the material was used in the local high school track and ball fields. Vermiculite from the mine was also used to insulate an elementary school in Libby.

Asbestosis and mesothelioma, a deadly lung cancer, are caused by exposure to asbestos. The disease occurs when airborne asbestos fibers are inhaled and are lodged into the soft tissue of the lungs. Symptoms can take 20 to 50 years to appear and at that time, it is often too late for any effective treatments.

Defendants in the trial include; William McCaig, a former manager of operations at the Libby mine; Robert Walsh, the former president of Grace’s construction division; Robert Bettacci, another former president of the construction division; Jack Wolter, an ex-manager of the construction products division and Henry Eschenback, the former director of health and safety. Grace has agreed to pay all of the above defendant’s legal costs. Former legal council, Mario Favorito, will be tried separately in September of this year. A sixth executive charged, Alan Stringer, the former general manager of operations in Libby, died in 2007.

The executives, if convicted, could face between five and fifteen years in prison as well as millions of dollars in fines. All have pleaded not guilty in the case. U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy is overseeing the trial and says it could take up to four months to decide on a verdict. Over 30 lawyers will be defending the company and the executives.

Dr. Teitelbaum, a retired toxicologist is a key witness for prosecutors. In 1977 his laboratory was contracted by Grace to review hundreds of chest x-rays from employees of both the Libby mine and another vermiculite mine owned by Grace in South Carolina. The results showed around 30 percent of the workers form the Libby mine had asbestosis while none of the South Carolina mine workers had signs of the disease. The company received the information, thanked Dr. Teitelbaum and took no further actions.

However, proving conspiracy is difficult since prosecutors will have to show that the Grace executives considered hiding the consequences of the activity as well as pursued doing it. It is predicted by Judge Molloy that the jury selection will be completed by Friday.