The chemical company W.R. Grace operated a nearby vermiculite mine until it was closed in 1990.
After news reports in 1999 about deaths and illnesses among mine workers and their families, investigators determined the vermiculite was contaminated by asbestos, which can cause lung damage if the fibers are inhaled during long-term exposure.
Health officials estimate several hundred people have died, with more than 3000 more injured.
The EPA began a lengthy clean-up that was completed in 2018, except for the mine site and some forest areas.
Grace has already paid out significant damages, and there are multiple lawsuits pending against a variety of defendants.
Now the estates of two residents who died are suing BNSF, which shipped vermiculate from the mine, alleging the company should have controlled contaminated dust in its rail yard. It’s the first case to go to trial among several similar suits against the railroad.
An attorney for the plaintiffs argued that while rail workers in Libby didn’t know they were handling hazardous materials, top executives did. “We’re here to make a party that accepts zero responsibility accept an appropriate amount of responsibility. This is the fault of the bigwigs in the corporate office.”
BNSF counters that at the time, the company didn’t know the vermiculite contained asbestos fibers and didn’t even know asbestos was dangerous.
An attorney for the company told jurors, “In the 50s, 60s, and 70s, no one in the public suspected there might be health concerns.”
The judge has instructed jurors they can only find the company is liable based on what it did, or didn’t do in the rail yard, and not just because it shipped the vermiculite.
Berkshire acquired BNSF in 2010, about a decade into the EPA cleanup of Libby.
