It has been three years in the making, but a federal judge has finally set a date for the largest environmental criminal trial in US history. 

Jury selection will begin February 19 in the case against WR Grace Co., alleging that the company knowingly endangering the lives of thousands by exposing them to asbestos-tainted ore from a vermiculite mine right outside of Libby, Montana.

Judge Molloy, the federal judge assigned to the case, is eager to move forward with the trial as it has been roughly two years since the last hearing, and the trial is expected to last nearly four months. Over the years, Molloy has ruled on a number of government efforts to hold WR Grace accountable for the asbestos contamination and has already levied huge fines that add up to hundreds of millions of dollars.  

The thirty three lawyers representing WR Grace in the trial will argue that the people of Libby could not have been harmed by the asbestos in the vermiculite ore. Environmental lawyers say that Grace’s legal team will make their argument with the help of industry-paid-for scientists who will conclude that the asbestos in Libby is not dangerous. In their counter argument, the government can point to hundreds of deaths that appear to be directly linked to asbestos-related diseases in Libby.

From the outset, this trial can be deemed unusual. The case was brought to the Federal Grand Jury just as the Bush administration was trying to force Congress to protect industry from civil asbestos claims. According to congressional investigators, the White House told the EPA and OSHA that it wanted to make sure unwarranted attention was not given for issues involving asbestos safety. 

WR Grace, if found guilty, could be fined up to $280 million, and WR Grace’s executives could receive maximum sentences of 55-70 years. The WR Grace executives that are in danger of being sentenced include Henry Eschenbach, who was the health and safety director in WR Grace's industrial chemical group; Jack Wolter, a former WR Grace vice president; Bill McCaig, an early general manager of the mine; Robert Bettacchi, also a WR Grace senior vice president; O. Mario Favorito, former general counsel for the corporation; and Robert Walsh, who was another senior vice president. A seventh official, Alan Stringer, the last general manager of the Libby mine, was also indicted. He died shortly after pleading not guilty.

A month before Stringer’s death, Les Skramstad, a former Libby miner, died of mesothelioma. Not only did the asbestos take Skramstad’s life, his wife and three children were all exposed to the asbestos through the clothing he wore home from work, and now have all been diagnosed with fatal asbestos-related diseases. Skramstad had hoped to survive to see WR Grace and the company’s executives tried in court.