DEAR DR. GOTT: In a recent column, you stated that “seven W.R. Grace executives and managers were indicted on 10 federal criminal counts of knowingly endangering the residents of the town of Libby, Mont., and of concealing information regarding the health effects of the company’s mining operations.”
While your column mentions the indictment, there is no mention that all seven executives were found not guilty by a jury in Montana. Can you print an update?
DEAR READER: Yes, I certainly can. I wrote about mesothelioma based on information I received from a reputable television-network commentary and from newspaper articles on the subject. Because of your request, I reviewed the topic again and found through CNN, the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and New York Times that W.R. Grace Company and three of its former executives were acquitted of having knowingly exposed mineworkers and residents of Libby to asbestos. One former manager died in 2007, and charges were dropped against two other Grace defendants prior to the acquittal.
The statute of limitations required the government to prove violations after 1999, which was within five years of the 2005 indictment. Grace closed the mine in 1990. That meant prosecutors had to prove in court that those company executives knowingly endangered both their employees and the residents of the town before it was illegal to do so and that they continued to endanger everyone after the law was put into effect.
It is apparent the aftereffects of this disastrous event for both prosecutors and defendants will be with us for many years to come.
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