Warren Buffett-owned railway says it didn’t find out about asbestos it hauled that killed a whole lot in Montana city

Attorneys for the Warren Buffett-owned firm say the railroad’s company predecessors didn’t know the vermiculite it hauled over decades from a close-by mine was full of hazardous microscopic asbestos fibers.

The case in federal civil courtroom over the 2 deaths is the primary of numerous lawsuits against the Texas-based railroad corporation to achieve trial over its previous operations in Libby, Montana. Present and former residents of the small city close to the U.S.-Canada border need BNSF held accountable for its alleged function in asbestos publicity that well being officers say has killed a number of hundred individuals and sickened hundreds.

Looming over the proceedings is W.R. Grace & Co., a chemical firm that operated a mountaintop vermiculite mine 7 miles (11 kilometers) exterior of Libby till it was closed 1990. The Maryland-based firm performed a central function in Libby’s tragedy and has paid vital settlements to victims.

U.S. District Courtroom Choose Brian Morris has referred to the mining firm as “the elephant in the room” within the BNSF trial. He reminded jurors a number of instances that the case was concerning the railroad’s conduct, not W.R. Grace’s separate legal responsibility.

Federal prosecutors in 2005 indicted W. R. Grace and executives from the corporate on felony fees over the contamination in Libby. A jury acquitted them following a 2009 trial.

How a lot W.R. Grace revealed concerning the asbestos risks to Texas-based BNSF and its company predecessors has been sharply disputed.

The railroad stated it was obliged underneath regulation to ship the vermiculite, which was utilized in insulation and for different industrial functions, and that W.R. Grace staff had hid the well being hazards from the railroad.

Former railroad staff stated throughout testimony and in depositions that they knew nothing concerning the dangers of asbestos. They stated Grace staff had been answerable for loading the hopper vehicles, plugging the holes of any vehicles leaking vermiculite and sometimes cleaned up materials that spilled within the rail yard.

Former rail yard employee John Swing stated in beforehand recorded testimony that he didn’t know asbestos was a problem in Libby till a 1999 newspaper story reporting deaths and diseases amongst mine staff and their households.

Swing additionally stated he didn’t assume the rail yard was dusty. His testimony was at odds with individuals who grew up in Libby and recall mud getting kicked up each time the wind blew or a prepare rolled by way of the yard.

The estates of the 2 deceased plaintiffs have argued that the W.R. Grace’s actions don’t absolve BNSF of its duty for knowingly exposing individuals to asbestos at its railyard within the coronary heart of the group.

Their attorneys stated BNSF ought to have recognized concerning the risks as a result of Grace put indicators on rail vehicles carrying vermiculite warning of potential well being dangers. They confirmed jurors a picture of a warning label allegedly hooked up to rail vehicles within the late Nineteen Seventies that suggested towards inhaling the asbestos mud as a result of it may trigger bodily hurt.

BNSF higher-ups additionally ought to have been conscious of the risks as a result of they attended conferences that mentioned mud ailments like asbestosis within the Thirties, attorneys for the plaintiffs argued.

The Environmental Safety Company descended on Libby after the 1999 information reviews. In 2009 it declared in Libby the nation’s first ever public well being emergency underneath the federal Superfund cleanup program.

The air pollution in Libby has been cleaned up, largely at public expense. But the lengthy timeframe over which asbestos-related ailments can develop means individuals beforehand uncovered are prone to proceed getting sick and dying for years to come back, well being officers say.

Relations of Tom Wells and Joyce Walder testified that their lives ended quickly after they had been identified with mesothelioma. The households stated the mud blowing from the rail yard sickened and killed them.

In a March 2020 video of Wells performed for jurors and recorded the day earlier than he died, he lay in a house hospital mattress, struggling to breathe.

“I’ve been placed in a horrible spot here, and the best chance I see at release — relief for everybody — is to just get it over with,” he stated. “It’s just not something I want to try and play hero through because I don’t think that there’s a miracle waiting.”