Last remaining W.R. Grace defendant has charges dismissed

According to a notice filed in the U.S. District Court in Missoula, federal prosecutors have dismissed charges against the only remaining defendant in the criminal case of W.R. Grace & Co.

Last month, Grace and three individual defendants were acquitted on charges relating to a criminal conspiracy involving Clean Air Act violations and obstruction of justice. A fourth defendant, O. Mario Favorito, was removed from the case due to potential conflicts with his defense. He was slated to stand trial separately in September, but his case was dismissed on May 8, 2009.

The case against Grace began in 2005 when a federal grand jury handed down an unprecedented indictment, alleging a 30-year conspiracy to defraud the government and knowingly endanger the residents of Libby, Missouri. While seven Grace employees were initially named in the indictment, charges were dropped at the request of the prosecutors, who conceded they lacked the evidence needed to convict the men.

A mortality study at the Center for Asbestos Related Disease in Libby has found 227 community members died from the asbestos diseases like mesothelioma cancer, and lists more than 1,800 active cases resulting from exposure to the deadly mineral. The study also relates scores of deaths to non-occupational asbestos-exposures, and finds that 77 people who never worked at Grace’s mine in Libby have died of asbestos disease since 1998.