In a landmark ruling this week, the Maryland Casualty Company will be required to pay $36 million in damages relating to the ongoing risk and damage from the WR Grace vermiculite mine in Libby, Montana.
The town of Libby was home to a vermiculite mine owned by WR Grace. The ongoing exposure to asbestos dust in the town has seen a rate of 10% of the residents dying by mesothelioma due to the exposure.
In May of 2009, the company was acquitted after it faced charges of knowingly harming the towns residents and was acquitted of participating in any cover-up.
By June of 2009, the EPA declared the town a public health emergency, spending $130 million on cleanups and medical assistance.
The ruling this week is significant after so many other court cases which have failed to see any directors or leaders held responsible for the ongoing harm. In fact, the breadth of the damage caused by the mine site saw the state of Montana set up its own “asbestos court” to handle the volume.
The latest verdict is expected to have a flow-on effect to the more than 800 cases still to be heard. The jury awarded the $36.5 million to a former mine worker suffering from asbestos, which is made up of $6.5 million in compensatory damages and $30 million in punitive damages.