W.r. grace bankruptcy judge says ok to $250m libby settlement

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Judith K. Fitzgerald this week approved an agreement which will finally see W.R. Grace & Company pay up for the costs of cleaning up the asbestos-contaminated town of Libby, Montana. The agreement states that W.R. Grace & Company will reimburse the federal government $250 million for money it has already spent investigating and cleaning up in the town. According to an order signed during a recent bankruptcy hearing the company has thirty days in which to pay the money. W.R. Grace & Company agreed to pay the $250 million in March, to settle a bankruptcy claim brought by the government for the cost of past, present, and future clean up of contaminated homes, businesses, and schools in Libby. The wide-spread asbestos contamination in Libby has long been known as the cause of the deaths of hundreds of people. More than two thousand residents and workers have been diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases such as asbestosis and mesothelioma in the past decades. The source of the contamination is a vermiculite mine which was once owned and operated by W.R. Grace & Company between 1963 and 1990. The mine is contaminated with asbestos, leading to exposure and disease not only for mine workers, but for residents of Libby as well. Millions of tons of the contaminated vermiculite were shipped to hundreds of processing plants across America. The asbestos-containing vermiculite was used in household insulation (under the brand name Zonolite), fireproofing materials, gardening materials, and many other products. The $250 million settlement for the cost of cleaning up Libby is the largest ever reimbursement settlement for the government’s Superfund Program, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Even so, Justice Department attorney James D. Freeman claims the government made a “substantial compromise” in accepting the settlement W.R. Grace & Company offered. However, prompt payment of the money will allow the government to continue cleaning up the town without any delays due to budget constraints. A recent estimate from an EPA official indicated that to date $168 million has been spent cleaning up Libby, and an estimated $175 million will be needed to complete the work over the next three to five years. That means a shortfall of almost $100 million, which the government will likely cover. The government filed suit to retrieve the costs of cleanup in 2001, shortly after W.R. Grace & Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The EPA won a judgment for $54 million in 2003, but that money was never paid. The $250 million settlement includes the original $54 million. (Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News)