UM Grace Case

The first full day of hearing the defendants’ case began without a ruling on motions to acquit or to dismiss the charges against any individual defendants.

Before the jury entered the room, defense attorney Thomas Frongillo asked  Judge Donald Molloy to clarify his ruling on evidence related to the testimony of Robert Locke, a problematic witness for the prosecution. Frongillo was concerned that some of the documents introduced during Locke’s testimony might have negative effects on his client, Robert Bettacchi.

Molloy said all the documents introduced during Locke’s testimony would be remain because otherwise it would  be too confusing for the jury. Then he appeared to open the possibility of striking some evidence when he asked Frongillo if he had specific documents in mind. Frongillo singled out documents relating to the aborted sale of the Libby mine property to 3M. Molloy asked Frongillo to let his clerk know what evidence specifically is of concern.

Once the jury was seated, defense attorney Walter Lancaster called Randy Geiger back to the stand. Geiger is an environmental engineer who established the Grace air sampling program in Libby beginning in 1977. He testified that all of Grace’s sampling was according to National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health standards. Geiger gathered both “engineering,” or site, and “personnel” asbestos fiber samples and sent monthly reports to the Grace management.

Lancaster submitted a number of these reports into evidence from 1977 to 1983. All the reports had summary tables that Lancaster used to emphasize places around Libby where Grace reported low fiber levels. All the results were time-weighted averages, where exposure is averaged over a period of time and so would not show any peak levels. Geiger said the samples were measured by counting fibers under a microscope.

At the time, the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration was in charge of monitoring companies like Grace. Geiger said MSHA representatives came to the mine a number of times and he did side-by-side sampling with them so they could compare results.

Many numbers in the displayed reports were not highlighted by the defense, such as fiber levels of 1.5 to 3 fibers per cubic centimeter measured in 1977, when the OSHA exposure limit was still 2 fibers per cubic centimeter. A number of years later, OSHA would lower the limit to 0.2 fibers per cubic centimeter.

Lancaster appeared to want to show that Grace had sampled areas of the community and found asbestos fiber levels to be low and that this information was sent to executives including defendants Jack Wolter and William McCaig. He also emphasized that Geiger always cooperated with the government, even displaying an MSHA letter thanking Geiger for his cooperation.

“Did any of your bosses ever tell you that you shouldn’t cooperate with the government or that you should try to hinder their sampling?” asked Lancaster. Geiger answered, “No.”

Carolyn Kubota took up questioning to draw out testimony in support of her client, Wolter. Kubota focused on  engineering improvements Grace made to their Libby operation in order to reduce dust. These included the addition of a wet mill, and equipment to reduce dust in trucks and boxcars.  Geiger confirmed that Wolter approved all such improvements. Just as she was getting ready to pick yet another improvement, Molloy interrupted to call the morning break.

–Laura L. Lundquist (posted 11:30 a.m.)