UM Grace Case

 When the Owens family bought 3,600 acres next door to W.R. Grace’s vermiculite mine in 1994, they got a lot more than just the timber they wanted to harvest. They got veins of asbestos in the ground, regular visits from government agencies and their very own air quality tests.

The Owens family formed the Kootenai Development Corporation after buying the property outside Libby. Government witness Mark Owens oversaw logging on the property and reclamation of former mine sites. Owens later sold KDC stock to W.R. Grace and former Grace executive Jack Wolter. On cross-examination, the defense attempted to show that Grace warned Owens of the presence of tremolite asbestos, that Grace did not conspire with Wolter on the sale of KDC stock and that the government, unlike Grace, took no action to warn Owens about the tremolite.

“Grace was open and candid with you about the health risks associated with tremolite asbestos, weren’t they?” asked defense attorney Mark Lancaster.  Owens agreed.

Former Grace executive Alan Stringer, a defendant in this case until he died at the age of 62 on Feb. 24, 2007, worked closely with Owens at former mine sites on KDC property. Lancaster asked Owens about Stringer’s advice and involvement.

“He was educating you about tremolite asbestos and how to deal with it,” Lancaster said. “He had enough of a concern to educate you and help you learn about it.”

Owens said that Stringer was helpful, but that he may have failed to communicate the dangers of tremolite. “I went away with the impression it was safe to be on the mine,” Owens said.

But Lancaster pointed out that Stringer was honest with Owens and that if he underestimated the health risks of breathing tremolite, it was not intentional. “His actions were consistent with his words,” Lancaster said. “Isn’t it true that he [Stringer] even brought his daughter up to work at the mine during the summers?”

Owens said he thought that was true.

Montana Department of Environmental Quality was monitoring the air on Owens’ property, and Lancaster wanted to know if they ever warned him about tremolite. Owens said that DEQ told him to stay away from “protected areas” that contained veins of naturally occurring tremolite. DEQ was monitoring the air at several sites on Owens’ property, including Rainy Creek Road, which accessed the mine, and told him that if he avoided these areas, there would be no need for further air monitoring or precautions.

Attempting to show that DEQ did not disclose all of their information on the site to Owens, Lancaster asked, “Do you recall air monitoring results from 1990 and 1991 that showed tremolite concentrations were low?”

Owens said he did not remember seeing those results. Lancaster also asked him, “Were you ever instructed by the county or the state to take special protective measures along Rainy Creek Road?”

Owens said he received no such instructions from either the state or the county on controlling the dust along the road. Rainy Creek Road is the only access to Grace’s former mine and is alleged to have been a source of asbestos-contaminated dust. KDC log trucks used the road to access the logging sites near the mine.

Lancaster then asked Owens about the arrival and involvement of the Environmental Protection Agency. Owens said that he gave EPA access and that the agency wanted to dump mine waste on his property. He also wanted a release of liability to protect him from future law suits. It was difficult to deal with EPA, Owens said.

Dale Cockrell, an asbestos lawyer from Kalispell, Mont., followed Owens’ testimony. Cockrell was instrumental in negotiations between Owens, Wolter and Grace regarding the transaction of KDC stock. Cockrell was responsible for securing money owed to Owens.

On cross-examination of Cockrell, defense attorney Carolyn Kubota attempted to show there was no conspiracy between Wolter and Grace. “Did Jack [Wolter] do or say anything that suggested he and Grace were in concert with each other?” Kubota asked. And Cockrell said no.

The final government witness of the morning was James Lockey, an environmental health professor at the University of Cincinnati and a pulmonary physician. McLean began his direct examination of Lockey by establishing the physician’s expertise and experience.

 – Will Grant (posted 2:15 p.m.)