Early Montana Studies Were "Smoking Gun" for Grace Asbestos Trial

A 1977 study of asbestos-related illnesses at the W.R. Grace mine in Libby, Montana, showed a much higher incidence than another Grace facility in South Carolina, according to recent reports.

This evidence, originally released in 1978 and again at the trial on March 19, shows that - while the S. Carolina unit had only one clear case of asbestos disease - the Libby mine had a significant quantity of same, including a number of younger individuals, which the study suggests may indicate that asbestos diseases could be age independent.
"Probably the difference lies in total exposure, fiber size and mineral form." the report states.

The study was based on chest X-rays, since CT scanners and MRI equipment did not become widely available until 1980, and was presided over by Dr. Daniel Teitelbaum, a toxicologist.

Teitelbaum's testimony was restricted by W.R. Grace's team of lawyers, and he was confined to speaking only about his direct knowledge of the report. Teitelbaum did manage to interject that Grace failed to follow up on the chest study, as recommended by his group of radiologists.

Jurors also heard from Julie Yang, who worked as a product research manager for Grace for 20 years. Yang now lives in California and works as a Grace consultant. According to Yang, internal studies directed at controlling the amount of asbestos released from the mined vermiculite into products like insulation and fireproofing demonstrated that it was "impossible" to make an asbestos-free product because asbestos particles are so small.

Federal prosecutors argue that those tests are proof that company officials knew the vermiculite from the Libby mine was high in asbestos, since they clearly made a concerted effort to limit those releases.

At one time, Yang also proposed animal testing on the raw vermiculite - a study which Libby officials first rejected based on cost, and then refused to publish for its negative results, which showed Libby vermiculite caused mesothelioma in animals.

Asbestos fibers, inhaled, can cause illnesses like lung cancer, cancer of the pharynx, cancer of the esophagus, stomach cancer, colon cancer, cancer of the rectum, asbestosis and mesothelioma. Malignant mesothelioma can lie dormant for decades, but when it finally manifests the patient commonly dies with a year.

Yang, who insists she was kept out of the corporate loop of coverups, said she never felt she was part of a criminal conspiracy to conceal the risks of W.R. Grace's products. This, multi-count criminal conspiracy, fraud and knowing endangerment, is precisely what Grace is being charged with by a federal grand jury seated in U.S. District Court in Missoula, Montana.

The trial commenced on February 23rd, 2009, and is directed at the company and five managers: Robert Walsh, a former senior vice president; Jack W. Wolter, a former vice president; Eschenbach, a former director of health, safety and toxicology; Robert J. Bettacchi, who headed the division that ran the mine; and William J. McCaig, a former general manager in Libby. O. Mario Favorito, a former company lawyer, is being tried under separate charges, and former general manager Alan R. Stringer died in 2007.

W.R. Grace's Enoree, South Carolina mine, which opened in 1946, was originally owned by the Zonolite Company of Chicago, Ill., which Grace bought out in 1963. Zonolite has no apparent legacy liability. Grace closed its Libby operation in 1990.

Other testimony, from former Grace employee and whistleblower Robert Locke - who was terminated in 1998 - shows that Grace officials were informed of the dangers of their vermiculite from many inside sources. Locke, who the AP describes as an "unindicted co-conspirator", has been litigating against his former employer for more than a decade.

Locke, who admits concern over his own criminal liability from his association with the company, has nonetheless rejected immunity offers from federal prosecutors, preferring to testify at the trial on his own behalf. Locke started working for Grace in 1974 and ultimately became global vice president and chief technical officer, teaming with Bettacchi to monitor the company's health, safety and environmental concerns. Locke admits he helped the company delay a 1980 federal health study, mandated by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, for a full nine months. Locke admits that he took company documents when he was dismissed to protect himself in the event of criminal liability charges against him, and surrendered them to federal investigators in 2004.

On Wednesday, March 25, Grace attorney David Bernick said Locke's testimony and his cooperation with the government were "self-serving".

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