| I missed this last week, but Andrea Peacock in the Missoula Independent has an analysis of the WR Grace trial. In short, it appears the prosecution had set itself a difficult task with the nature of its charges and that the defense - with some help from Justice Molloy - sowed enough doubt in the prosecution's case while maintaining empathy with the residents of Libby to win the case.
But, again, there's no doubt the mines in Libby killed hundreds of people, and hundreds more have been given death sentences. And there's not much doubt WR Grace executives knew what was going on. Justice has not been served.
Peacock:
Norita asks if the verdicts can be appealed. I tell her that while they can't, there's still the possibility of state charges on homicide. But she has no appetite for this. "I think we'll just go on with our lives," she says. "Let it all go behind us."
During the trial, an occasional posse of journalists gathered for lunch at the Union Club to swap impressions. At one point when Gayla and Norita joined us, Andrew Schneider commented he was tired of writing about Libby, and I fully understood how he felt. But I also had a pretty good idea what Gayla's response would be: "I'm tired of living with it, but I've got five friends dying right now. There were six, but one passed away on Sunday."
It never was Gayla Benefield's or Norita's or Les Skramstad's job to get justice for Libby. It was the job of the EPA and Department of Justice. It was the duty of Montana's media. And it remains the responsibility of the Montana Attorney General.
Montana law allows that, "A person commits the offense of negligent homicide if the person negligently causes the death of another human being."
As of early 2007, there were 274 people on Libby's self-kept scorecard of asbestos casualties-this includes 33 cases of mesothelioma identified by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (mesothelioma is a rare lung cancer associated exclusively with asbestos exposure), as well as miners, miners' wives, miners' children and scores of people who had no connection to the mine at all-they simply lived in Libby. Given the latency period of asbestos related diseases-which can stretch for as long as 40 years-the community will likely be burying people whose lives were shortened by the contamination Grace left lying around town well into the middle of this century.
Just because the rest of us are tired of the tragedy is no excuse. There are an awful lot of people still waiting for judgment day.
You can contact Montana State Attorney General, Steve Bullock, and ask him to pursue a case against the corporate executives who killed hundreds in Libby. You can write him:
Department of Justice
PO Box 2013401
Helena, Montana 59620
Or email:
contactdoj@mt.gov
Contact information can be found at the state DOJ website. |
