UM Grace Case

Comment from C Foreman
Time May 8, 2009 at 10:38 am

Nice Work Department of Justice, and another fine example of the American Justice System at work!

Comment from Gerry Heard
Time May 8, 2009 at 10:40 am

I agree… In light of the poor evidence and all…. It was the correct verdict.

Comment from David F. Latham, editor, The Montanian newspaper, Libby, Montana
Time May 8, 2009 at 10:40 am

The verdict is not surprising. After all, how can the government expect to prosecute a company for activities in which the government was complicit from the beginning?

Comment from John Derry
Time May 8, 2009 at 10:40 am

Amen to that
I’d add — government employees in general.

Comment from neil nelson
Time May 8, 2009 at 10:41 am

I guess the judge and grace got their way. Sorry dad, I guess the people responsible for your death get off scott free. What a bummer. I guess corporations can kill and get away with it. I am sorry for everyone in Libby and elsewhere that have to live with this verdict,just don’t know what else to say. adiose

Comment from Terry Trent
Time May 8, 2009 at 10:45 am

It is the correct decision. Now we are all stuck with EPA and what to do with them?

Love your comment Dave.
TT

Comment from Christopher Orman
Time May 8, 2009 at 11:03 am

I want to thank all of you who followed this case with us. I learned a great deal from this process, but also from all of you who made comments; alerting me to my mistakes and misgivings.

Comment from Paul Peters
Time May 8, 2009 at 11:08 am

The first time I read “An Air that Kills,” I thought this would be an open and shut case. The thing to do now is dissect this and figure out how it happened. Grace gets too lucky too often.

Comment from frank youso
Time May 8, 2009 at 11:25 am

sorry you had to suffer and slowly die Dad….may they all burn in hell.

Comment from Terry Trent
Time May 8, 2009 at 11:27 am

Dear Paul Peters… The problem is that Andrew Schneider published his book by listening to EPA. And almost all of his newspaper articles. There were those, including me, but those who have been intimately involved with the entire history of “asbestos” as it has developed in the United States, who attempted to tell Andrew that he was going off in the wrong direction.

The book itself has all the impact expected of a well thought out historically researched and accurate material. When in reality it is a superficial look at a complicated bit of science both physical and social science.

The place to start in your dissection, is at the very beginning and that is with Irving Selikoff. To understand how Andrew ended up where he did, you would do well to talk with Dr. Arthur M. Langer who worked with Selikoff as his right hand man. Then speak to Dr. Bruce Case on the same topic. Keep in mind this is a very difficult Then it will dawn on you, what has happened. A analytical dissection by you may save us all from the inevitable blaming of the Judge.
Best regards,
Terry

Comment from C. Cromwell
Time May 8, 2009 at 11:55 am

Bearing in mind my cursory knowledge of this latest Grace fiasco, my knee jerk reaction is to peg this outcome as the “O.J. verdict of environmental crime.” I hope Libby’s tragically afflicted residents have better luck on the civil side.

Comment from Terry Trent
Time May 8, 2009 at 12:00 pm

C. Cromwell…LOL… well, in this case we know who the glove fit…and it wasn’t WR Grace employees!!
TT

Comment from neil nelson
Time May 8, 2009 at 12:26 pm

This verdict will affect the civil trial’s, grace will say the were not convicted in this court so they can’t be convicted in civil court.

Comment from Paula Bolster
Time May 8, 2009 at 12:52 pm

Just another big company getting away with murder — Doesn’t matter what you do it matters who’s pockets you line. That is why the whole country is in the state it is in now. I just hope that those who are very wealthy and retired from this company — The company that put peoples lives second to their pocket books first have many sleepless nights.
God will take care of them in the end.

Comment from Bob French
Time May 8, 2009 at 1:45 pm

Too bad that so many people had to die when Grace knew for years that more of their employees were dying in Libby than in their other vermiculite plants. My guess is this is more a case of charging them with the wrong crime, than a lack of what I would regard as criminal misconduct by Grace top brass and complicit employees. Clearly a case of putting profit before worker safety and safety of the local community. People can argue all day about whether or not blocky Tremolite is asbestos, or if the “Libby Amphiboles” are asbestos. The problem is that hundreds of people died, and thousands are sick because Grace put profit before safety. They knew people were dying, they tried to do something about it (and failed), but they kept putting out false assurances, and many more died because of their lies. If only they could suffer the way that their victims have.

Comment from student
Time May 8, 2009 at 2:16 pm

TT: your theory that EPA’s culpability exonerates Grace’s is whack!

Comment from Steve Erickson
Time May 8, 2009 at 3:14 pm

Neil:
The standard for criminal guilt is different from and much higher than for civil liability. That’s why OJ lost in the civil case against him, even though he walked from the criminal charges.

Student:
You couldn’t have put it more succinctly. TT, I just don’t understand how EPA’s screwups exonerate Grace. EPA is a government agency subject to political pressure, including that produced by Grace. The people who work in the agency bear the brunt of that pressure. Add to that, one polluter captured or incompetent bureaucrat can stymie a dozen well meaning grunts. A polluter captured Senator’s phone call can have a remarkable effect. When its a succession of entire administrations hostile to regulation generally and environmental and public health protection in particular, the agencies actions are predictably inadequate or incompetent. But this doesn’t let Grace or any other willful polluter off the hook, either ethically and morally, or legally.

Comment from Michael Sol
Time May 8, 2009 at 3:29 pm

A case like this generates strong feelings. I think the UM Law School and the UM Journalism School did some ground-breaking, important work in providing coverage of the trial, and good writing all the way around. The Grace case was an important case. The coverage of it in this innovative fashion is an important step in modern communications. Congratulations on a job well done.

Michael Sol

Comment from Terry Trent
Time May 13, 2009 at 5:02 pm

Student and Steve Erikson – Although I hate to be flippant on this subject…what part of 38 years of standing by and watching people die, when it is your job to stop it, do you not understand?

EPA’s past actions do not exonerate Grace, nor are EPA’s past actions “screw ups”. They know pretty much what they are doing and what they have done. The whole idea is to get the public to accept what they perceive to be low death rates from rare diseases. In short they have operated as if the public accepts their cost benefit analysis (which they have little idea what it is, but they know for certain that it costs too much to save people from environmental disease caused by “asbestos”). In so doing these things, they fake science, fake testing procedures, publish false science, lie to public audiences, and interfere with 3000 mesotheliomas per year in the US as little as humanly possible. All of these things are illegal in the United States. No they do not exonerate Grace, (Grace exonerated themselves) but WR Grace is an itsy bitsy player next to EPA and could never have caused as much damage as EPA has done by not recognizing the differences in toxicity between fiber types….and of course, not enforcing their own regulations.
Best to you both,
Start reading the history to answer your questions, you won’t be telling me you don’t understand anymore.
TT

Comment from neil nelson
Time May 17, 2009 at 3:34 pm

thank you Mr. Erickson,, I just hope that someone will be held responsible for what has happened to Libby and elsewhere. Someone is guilty of this, not the workers who were just trying to make a living, or the townfolk just trying to live. Someone did this and should be held responsible. Since grace is in bankruptcy they can not be touched by civil trials, even if someone goes after grace it will be botched just like this trial. People die and get sick and no one is responsible, I guess it is all our imagination.

Comment from jebnel
Time August 22, 2009 at 4:41 am

The verdict is not surprising. After all, how can the government expect to prosecute a company for activities in which the government was complicit from the beginning?

Perfect answer – good insight…

jb