Nightline Examines the Asbestos Poisoning of Libby, MT

Six years after the poisoning of Libby, Montana by W.R. Grace became public, Nightline reports that about 15-35 million homes nationwide have contaminated Grace insulation in their attics and that we will see "significant numbers of people coming down with asbestos disease for the next several decades."

Yet, public awareness about the hazardous material remains insufficient. When asked why the Environmental Protection Agency never issued an emergency declaration about the dangers of vermiculite asbestos in American homes and never jumpstarted a national clean-up effort, the answer Nightline received was startling:

"I'm sure your people have told you that the White House is extremely interested in having [a bill to prevent lawsuits against asbestos companies] passed. EPA and the other agencies in the government that deal with asbestos have basically been told to keep it quiet… Remember, President Bush in his State of the Union Address, one of the things he said he wanted was asbestos tort reform. The pressure from this comes from the highest levels. The White House clearly doesn't want any of the medical professionals in the government agencies to make noise about the potential danger to the public."

How W.R. Grace's Conduct in Libby Became a National Crisis

Known as "hot spots," Nightline reports that 236 cities in 42 states are part of the environmental disaster in Libby, MT. That's because Grace shipped its contaminated materials across the country where it still lurks dangerously in homes.

Nightline's Dave Marash reports: "Although Libby is almost certainly the worst case [of poisoning], it is also certainly not the only vermiculite-poisoned place in America. In its 30 years of operation here, W.R. Grace shipped out over these very rail tracks, tens of millions of tons of this dangerous material all across America and the rest of the world. And those railroad tracks led almost everywhere. Dearborn, Michigan, is one."

Nightline Reports on the Proposed Asbestos Trust Fund

For the past 3 years, the Senate has been trying to pass a massive trust fund to handle asbestos claims - a fund that Nightline describes as "federally subsidized health care" for asbestos victims. While a good idea in theory, the current proposal is so fundamentally flawed that many, if not most, victims would be left with nothing.

The following conversation between Nightline reporter John Donvan and the reporter who broke the story of Libby, MT, Andrew Schneider, explains:

DONVAN: Joining me now, reporter Andrew Schneider of "The Baltimore Sun." We like to say in the business that some people own a story and he owns this one. Andrew Schneider first broke the story of trouble in Libby, Montana when he was at the "Seattle Post Intelligentsia" back in 1999. And Andrew, that's six years we're talking about. And the bill that Dave Marash referred to in his report that some Libby residents and others downstream hope will compensate them, that bill's been wondering through Congress for something like two or three years now. Is it - is it designed and actually written for the Libby situation?

SCHNEIDER, "THE BALTIMORE SUN": No, absolutely not. That was one of the biggest problems and one of the major concerns that the opponents had of it. It had nothing to do with Libby under the original language of the bill and under a very unusual medical criteria that the American Bar Association put together. People with the kind of disease that they have in Libby, from the type of fiber, the Tremolite fiber that Dave talks about, didn't manifest itself in a way that it would be covered by that medical criteria. So people from Libby and all the plants around the country ["hot spots"] that Dave's talking about basically wouldn't be covered.

DONVAN: So they were left out?

SCHNEIDER: They were left out.

DONVAN: And now I understand that amendments have been made that might include them?

SCHNEIDER: Well, there have been several amendments over the last three years that theoretically would include them. The question is, will they?

DONVAN: So they're still possibly hanging out there with the illness and without compensation.

SCHNEIDER: Yeah, lots of people believe that everyone in Libby is still hanging out there.

Richard Uranus Could Be Left Out of the Senate's Proposal

Richard Uranus is one of the people who may be left out. As a young man, he worked at a Dearborn, MI plant that processed ore shipped from Libby for five years. Now, he has the deadly asbestosis; five years was all it took. Richard's doctor is the nationally known expert on asbestosis cancer, Michael Harbut. In an interview, Dr. Harbut said point-blank: "It's generally agreed in medicine that there's no such thing as safe exposure to asbestos."

As a result, "even Michigan processing plant worker and diagnosed asbestosis sufferer Rich Uranus may be left out in the cold," reports Nightline.

No Accountability for W.R. Grace?

In February 2005, a Federal grand jury criminally indicted W.R. Grace and seven of its executives. So Nightline asked whatever happened to those officers after the scandal became public. The answer:

SCHNEIDER: "Well, the majority of the people that have been indicted are still employed by the company in other companies that Grace owns. It's a very large worldwide conglomerate. Many of them have been moved to other sections. I believe out of the 7 indicted, only 2 of them are retired," said Schneider.

DONVAN: "So they went - they continued to go on with their jobs, essentially, with their careers?

SCHNEIDER: That's true.

DONVAN: "Did anyone ever apologize, ever admit any sort of at least moral liability?"

SCHNEIDER: "To the best of my knowledge, no official ever did that."

By wiping out all legal liability for asbestos companies, W.R. Grace and its officials stand to benefit from the Senate's proposed trust fund while many victims would get nothing. Senator Arlen Specter tried to defend the flawed proposal, but accountability was at the heart of the matter when Nightline asked asbestos victim Jeff Evjene what he thinks. Said Jeff:

"I want them to really think about what they're doing before they sign a bill that limits the liability of a company that knew full well the hazards they were dealing with. And yet they elected to take money over people's lives."

Excerpts taken from transcripts of ABC Nightline's series "A Killer in Town", which originally aired November 3 & 4, 2005.