Did W.R. Grace Obstruct Clean Up Efforts ?

W.R. Grace and Company seems to have misled the government and obstructed efforts to clean up the Libby Asbestos mine site in Montana.
(Shocking ? Not Really)

Apparently Paul Peronard testified on Thursday at the federal environmental crimes trial going on in Missoula with W.R. Grace and five of W.R. Grace's former company officials.

Paul Peronard was EPA’s on scene coordinator in Libby, Montana where Grace operated a vermiculite mine.

Paul Peronard said Grace officials provided him false and misleading statements during the initial phase of the Libby Mine cleanup, at that time the EPA was trying to gauge the scope of asbestos contamination in Libby.

Paul said he helped arrange sale of the mine site back to Grace, so that the EPA could use it as a repository for asbestos-contaminated mine waste. He said that, one day after the sale was completed, Grace denied EPA access to the site. This is not out of character for W.R. Grace in my opinion. Grace Lies and the State of Montana backs them up, well that is what it seems like to me, a Lincoln County Resident.

Paul Peronard said “It just threw a wrench in all the operations we had planned,” Peronard testified that he had asked former mine manager Alan Stringer about the vermiculite concentrate at the various mine sites, and he was told the material contained less than 1 percent asbestos and was not hazardous. Company documents would later reveal that Grace’s own product testing showed even low levels of asbestos caused dangerous releases of airborne fibers. ( this stuff so reminds me of Erin Brockovich). Lies, Coverup, Connections to "Corporate". Knowing what they were doing to Libby Montana Residents but not caring and not being made to care by the State of Montana. ( Hey it's Revenue, who Cares Right?)

W.R. Grace told the EPA that it never provided asbestos-contaminated vermiculite to the general public; but Peronard said he would later learn that Grace provided vermiculite for the junior high school running track and the Plummer Elementary School skating rink in Libby.

It is so funny to me that Grace even tried this one, we all know that our families played in piles of vermiculite (asbestos) at school, it is common knowledge in Lincoln County.


Community residents also have said that Grace provided vermiculite to the general public for a variety of uses, such as gardening. Peronard testified Thursday that, by misleading the EPA about the scope of the contamination, the company delayed emergency response to homes and the general community, putting crews “in a big circle.”

Gardens, Schools, Homes, on the Clothes of Workers, in the Air, you could not get away from it and Grace knew how bad it was and ignored it, as did, in my opinion the State of Montana, but the State of Montana Reaped the Rewards of a Poisoned Community, in my Opinion.

The Damage that W.R. Grace has done to Lincoln County is irrepairable, the best folks can hope for is enough money to move on. Not to mention what they did that haunts Libby Still today and does affect property values and people moving into the area.

More on this, Links Below

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/secretingredients/archives/162805.asp?from=blog_last3