For nearly three years various courts all the way up to the Supreme Court have heard pre-trial motions relating to the Libby, Montana asbestos case involving W.R. Grace Co. Hundreds of former W. R. Grace workers and residents have been exposed to asbestos, and finally, after a long wait on the part of the plaintiffs, a federal judge has set a trial date for the United States’ “largest environmental criminal trial ever.â€
District Judge Donald Molloy announced on Friday in front of a full courtroom that the jury selection for the trial will commence on February 19, 2009. It is estimated that the case could take as many as four months before a judgment is made.
Prosecution in the case is alleging that W.R. Grace, along with a number of both past and present executives of the company, put the lives of thousands of residents and workers in danger due to the mining of ore in a nearby vermiculite mine that was tainted with dangerous asbestos.
Judge Molloy has ruled against Grace a number of times, which led to the company’s appeal to the Supreme Court, which was subsequently denied.
It is thought that Grace will attempt to prove that the asbestos-tainted ore is not dangerous, but prosecution is ready to show that hundreds of individuals have in fact died from mesothelioma cancer, which developed as a result of their asbestos exposure.
In the event that Grace and executives are found guilty they could face maximum prison sentences of anywhere between 55 to 70 years.
