Community overwhelmed by asbestos related illness
8 April 2009
The affect of asbestos related disease world-wide has been further demonstrated by a case currently being pursued within the United States of America.
The US Justice Department has brought criminal proceedings against corporate giant WR Grace and five senior executives face allegations that they knew of the risks posed by the company's historic use of asbestos, yet conspired to cover them up and obstructed justice.
WR Grace went bankrupt under the weight of 100,000 asbestos related claims largely from plant workers around the country who contracted one of several forms of deadly asbestos related disease further to processing the raw vermiculite which was mined in Libby, Montana. Despite the mine closing in 1990, the town itself is thought to be one of the worst hit areas in the US as a result of the company's previous activities. The US government has called it "the worst case of industrial poisoning of a whole community in American history".
Although most people affected within Libby are between the ages of 60-70 there are many people under 50 years old who have now been diagnosed with an asbestos related condition. The youngest of these is just 13 years old.
The Asbestos was present in the slag used to lace the school running tracks and ice rink and also used in baseball pitches in the 1970's. As a result of the long latency period for asbestos related diseases to become detectable, there is a continued detection of further illnesses related to the previous asbestos exposure at a rate of 1 person a week. This is expected to continue for at least a further 20 years and maybe even longer.
If you wish to find out more information about this or a related story please contact Ashton Morton Slack on 0114 2752888 and ask to speak to a member of the occupational illness team.