Grace settlement welcome news
Inter Lake editorial
W.R. Grace & Co.'s offer to pay the federal government $250 million to settle a bankruptcy claim for Libby asbestos cleanup is welcome news for that community.
Libby has spent much of the last decade in the public eye as local, state and national news media have detailed the disease, deaths and contamination left in the wake of Grace's vermiculite mine that infected the area with toxic asbestos poisoning. It's time the town got some good news.
The settlement is contingent on bankruptcy-court approval and that, of course, is the big question. There are many creditors trying to get a piece of Grace as the corporate giant works through bankruptcy. We hope the Libby cleanup deal becomes a reality.
The Environmental Protection Agency intends to spend most of the money on future cleanup, site-specific investigations and operations and maintenance. The federal agency already has shelled out $163 million cleaning up the worst contamination and chipping away at an extensive program to rid Libby homes of asbestos.
Whether $250 million is enough to completely close the books on Libby's asbestos saga remains to be seen. Watchdogs note that toxicology studies aimed at determining how much asbestos exposure causes illness haven't been completed yet.
While it's good to see Grace offering up the cash for cleanup, the issue of compensation for those with asbestos disease remains up in the air. Roughly 2,000 people have been diagnosed with asbestos poisoning from the Libby mine, and close to 700 lawsuits for personal injury remain unresolved. These victims deserve compensation from Grace.
Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., is right when he says $250 million "is a drop in the bucket compared to the destruction and pain" Libby residents have endured. No one can put a price on the lives lost, but cleanup is something that can be accomplished, even as slow and tedious as it may be.
Grace's bankruptcy settlement proposal is a step in the right direction. Let's hope the bankruptcy court agrees.