A long-awaited settlement may have been reached in the case of the now-closed W.R. Grace & Co. mine in Libby, Montana. This was the largest and oldest vermiculite mine in the United States, estimated to have produced over 80% of the world’s vermiculite while operational. Its vermiculite was sold as Zonolite, named after the nearby Zonolite Mountain.
Hundreds of people have been killed and many more sickened by asbestos exposure from the mine. The victims and their families are reported to be mulling over a $43 million settlement. At least 1,125 victims are considering a deal that calls for payments ranging from $21,500 to $60,700, depending on the severity of sickness.
The asbestos lawsuit claims that Montana health officials failed to warn miners about the hazards of a deadly vermiculite mine. In 2004, the Montana Supreme Court said the state should have warned miners about health hazards identified by state officials as early as the 1950s.
Vermiculite is a natural mineral that expands or exfoliates when heated. There are multiple large commercial mines for vermiculite worldwide. Although not all of the mineral contains asbestos, many products were made with vermiculite that did contain asbestos until the 1990s. The Libby mine had tremolite asbestos, winchite and richterite and was very contaminated.
Most victims of asbestos-related diseases and medical conditions in this case never worked in the mine. They are victims of secondary asbestos exposure, being sickened by family members who worked in the mine and brought the toxic dust home on their clothing. Others who fell ill and even died, were affected because as kids they played outside in or near mine waste that was all around.
The Libby mine closed in 1990, and more than $330 million has been spent on a cleanup that is expected to go on for years. W.R. Grace & Co. escaped most liability when it filed for bankruptcy after the extent of contamination was revealed. The EPA called Libby the worst case of community-wide exposure to a toxic substance in United States history.