Defense: Govt knew of asbestos danger, did nothing

A medical expert in the W.R. Grace & Co. trial was excused Monday after three and a half days on the witness stand, mostly under defense cross-examination aimed at undermining his credibility.

The Missoulian newspaper reported the proceedings on its Web site.

Dr. Aubrey Miller began his testimony last Tuesday in the government's criminal case against Grace.

On Monday prosecutors sought to reinforce Miller's key points, and the defense was then given a second chance at cross-examination, unusual in federal criminal cases.

Miller was part of an emergency response team sent to Libby by the Environmental Protection Agency in November 1999. He said Columbia, Md.-based Grace and several one-time officials had known about the asbestos contamination for years through company product testing.

Thomas Frongillo, an attorney for defendant Robert Bettacchi, accused Miller of hiding information about the types of asbestos in Libby's air.

Frongillo had earlier pointed to studies that showed how the bulk of asbestos found in Libby's vermiculite is composed of winchite and richterite asbestos, which is not regulated by the federal government.

"You didn't tell the jury that 95 percent of the fibers that had been tested and analyzed in Libby were winchite and richterite. You were aware that winchite and richterite were unregulated weren't you?" Frongillo said. "Sitting here today in 2009, 10 years after you arrived in Libby, the minerals winchite and richterite remain unregulated, isn't that right?"

"As far as I'm concerned this is all asbestos," Miller replied - an answer that U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy told jurors to ignore.

James Becker, a former financial analyst for W.R. Grace, took the stand just before the lunch break and testified regarding his role on a task force during the 1970s, when Grace officials asked him to assess problems associated with the continued mining of vermiculite in Libby.

Becker's analysis was meant to determine if mining vermiculite ore was a sustainable business operation, and included the threat of lawsuits and the issue of public health.

"There was awareness within the division that dust from the mill had settled over a large area of town," Becker said.

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On the Net:

University of Montana trial coverage blog: http://blog.umt.edu/gracecase

Grace case documents: http://www.mtb.uscourts.gov/mtd/mtdcaselookup.asp

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Information from: Missoulian, http://www.missoulian.com