It's been almost 25 years since federal authorities, responding to news reports of deaths and illnesses, descended on the small northwestern Montana town of Libby to clean it up. Now, some asbestos victims and their family members are seeking to hold publicly accountable one of the major corporate players in the tragedy: BNSF Railway.
Hundreds of people have died and more have been sickened from asbestos exposure in the Libby, Montana area. BNSF Railway faces accusations of wrongful death for failing to control clouds of contaminated dust. The railroad denies the charges. Respiratory therapist Vernon Johnson, left, conducts a pulmonary test on Christine Ekstedt at the Center for Asbestos Related Disease, Thursday, April 4, 2024, in Libby, Mont.
The vermiculite was shipped by rail from Libby for use as insulation in homes and businesses across the U.S. The vermiculite mine several miles away closed down in 1990. Nine years later, the Environmental Protection Agency arrived in Libby. The subsequent cleanup has cost an estimated $600 million, with most covered by taxpayer money. It’s ongoing, but authorities say asbestos volumes in downtown Libby’s air are 100,000 times lower than when the mine was operating.
Last year, BNSF won a federal lawsuit against an asbestos treatment clinic in Libby that a jury found submitted 337that made patients eligible for Medicare and other benefits. The judge overseeing the case ordered the Center for Asbestos Related Disease to pay almost $6 million in U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris blocked BNSF from blaming the conduct of others as a means of escaping liability. He also said the law doesn’t support the notion that trespassing reduces a property owner’s duty not to cause harm.
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