W.R. Grace trial: Libby residents ready to put it all behind them

The national media has descended upon Libby once again, highlighting the town full of residents who have died or been sickened by W.R. Grace and Co.’s asbestos-contaminated vermiculite mine.

U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy once again has the task of handling the massive environmental criminal case against W.R. Grace and Co. and former and current executives.

Déjà vu?

Hopefully not. There is no consensus on how residents felt about Libby being “a town left to die” in the eyes of the world when the story was exposed in 1999, or how they feel about the trial that might finally see the light of day – but residents do agree that they want the issue behind them.

“Every time a reporter comes up here, they will talk about it,” Libby Mayor Doug Roll said. “Until the cleanup is done and this trial is over, we can’t keep out of the papers.”

Roll spoke to a New York Times reporter Tuesday and can expect to be bombarded with more national and international news correspondents as the trial gets under way. Jury selection was scheduled to begin Thursday. 

The case went from Judge Molloy’s hands in 2006 to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and then up to the U.S. Supreme Court, which handed the case back to Molloy. If there is a conviction, Roll predicts an appeal that will drag on for several more years.

“I’d like to get it over with,” he said. “It’s already stretched so long … It will drag out another five years of appeals if they’re convicted.”

Recent headlines proclaiming Libby’s “Death in the air” irritate some residents.

“People read that,” said Kirby Maki, superintendent of Libby Schools, “and sometimes they don’t even read the article. That (safety of Libby’s air) has not been proven. The EPA is working on the risk assessment right now to decide how safe is safe, and within a year or so that information should be out.”

Maki has been involved with the Community Advisory Group since moving to Libby with his family in 1998, and he has overseen the asbestos cleanup of Libby school buildings.

“My family and I would not have stayed this long if we thought it was unhealthy,” Maki said. “A lot of information out there isn’t necessarily true.”

Lifelong Libby resident Gayla Benefield has a different take on the press. As an outspoken advocate for those affected by asbestos – which includes her and several of her family members – she said the press is her No. 1 ally. She has given her two-cents to news organizations throughout the world.

“I think to be worried about national attention is ridiculous,” Benefield said. “People are not aware of the fact that this trial is garnering national attention because it’s the largest environmental trial ever held. To be worried about the light it puts Libby in is silly.”

Benefield plans to attend the trial next week with Norita Skramstad, the widow of Les Skramstad. Les, who was diagnosed with mesothelioma, died two years ago before he could take the stand as a government witness.  

Benefield believes the tone of Libby’s story has changed since it hit papers in 1999.

“It won’t be ‘a town left to die’ anymore,” Benefield said. “Now the press coverage we’re getting is we are finally getting our day in court. Ironically, we are looked at as a brave community – people are not afraid of the asbestos anymore because we’re cleaning it up.”

Paul Rumelhart, executive director of the Kootenai River Development Council, doesn’t believe that anyone benefits from the press coverage of the trial. 

“I think it’s a mistake,” Rumelhart said, “to try and crucify the executives at W.R. Grace. We seem to want someone to hang. In my own mind, that’s not the proper way to approach it.”

Rumelhart believes the trial is what is getting in the way of helping Libby.

Rumelhart pointed out that W.R. Grace already put $250 million toward the Superfund program last year in a settlement with the federal government. If W.R. Grace was allowed to continue as a viable corporation, he said, more profits could be used toward asbestos removal and health care.

“For them to remain a viable corporation, you don’t throw the executives in the slammer,” he said. “What good to Libby is going to come from this trial?”

Rumelhart, who developed lung problems from delivering petroleum products to the mine for 15 years, does not believe W.R. Grace executives knew of the deadly effects of asbestos-contaminated vermiculite.

Rumelhart was “good friends” with Alan Stringer, former general manager of the mine and a defendant named in the case before he died two years ago.

“If they knew about (the danger of) asbestos, why would managers employ their children there?” Rumelhart said, recalling Stringer’s daughters working at the mine. “A lot of the activities were a mistake, but I don’t think they were intentional. I don’t think they were criminal.”

Benefield, who has lost several family members to lung-related illnesses stemming from the mine, believes the national attention is what caused W.R. Grace to be held financially accountable to begin with.   

“Libby cannot take care of its sick without the courts,” she said. “It’s necessary to save lives.”

Aside from sending the six individual defendants to prison and imposing hefty fines on W.R. Grace, a conviction could force W.R. Grace to pay restitution to victims of asbestos exposure.

But a conviction could be a decade away, if it ever happens.

Libby residents are disheartened to think of the millions, perhaps billions, of dollars that has been and will continue to be spent on litigation.

“It could have been better spent in Libby,” Roll said, “for cleanup and helping sick people.”

Roll doubts the outcome of the trial will affect Libby’s circumstances.

“It will make some people feel good, retribution-wise, but as far as affecting anyone’s lives, I don’t think so,” Roll said. “I realize (the trial) has to happen, but I think it could be money better spent.”