Railroad Found Responsible for Deaths Related to Asbestos-Containing Vermiculite It Shipped

A jury in federal court in Montana found that Burlington Northern and Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway contributed to the deaths of two people. The jury decided they were exposed to asbestos many years ago when BNSF shipped vermiculite tainted with asbestos through Libby, Montana, where thousands have been sickened.

On April 22, the jury awarded $4 million each to the plaintiffs’ estates. Joyce Walder and Thomas Wells died of mesothelioma in 2020. Jurors ruled that the asbestos-contaminated vermiculite that spilled in the defendant’s rail yard in Libby was a substantial factor in their illnesses and deaths, reports the Associated Press. The jury didn’t find that BNSF acted with indifference or intentionally, so there was no punitive damage award.

Another trial against the railroad due to the death of another Libby resident is scheduled to begin in May in federal court in Missoula. The Libby plaintiffs claim BNSF knew the vermiculite was dangerous but failed to protect residents from it. The plaintiffs didn’t work at the mine or for BNSF but lived in the area when the mine operated.

Vermiculite’s Toxic Legacy in Libby, Montana

The W.R. Grace & Co. purchased the vermiculite mine in 1963, operating until it closed and stopped shipping vermiculite in 1990. The mine operated seven miles outside Libby from the 1920s until 1990. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. bought BNSF in 2010.

Though operations shut down more than 40 years ago, given mesothelioma may take decades to develop,  healthy people in the area exposed to asbestos may develop this deadly disease in the future. Vermiculite was used as insulation and for other commercial purposes.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency came to Libby in 1999 after news reports of illnesses and deaths of mine workers and their family members. In 2009. the agency  declared the town the country’s first public health emergency under the federal Superfund cleanup program.

What Did BNSF Know About Vermiculite and Asbestos, and When Did They Know It?

The case in the federal civil court in Missoula is the first of many against BNSF to reach a trial over its Libby operations. The company is accused of contributing to the hundreds of deaths and thousands made ill by asbestos-containing vermiculite.

BNSF claims railroad employees didn’t know vermiculite was contaminated with asbestos. The company also used expert witnesses to testify that the deceased may have been exposed to asbestos elsewhere. The company argued federal law required it to ship the vermiculite and that W.R. Grace was obligated to inform it of health hazards, but its employees concealed this information from them.

Plaintiffs’ attorneys stated that BNSF should have known of vermiculite’s dangers because of the following:

• W.R. Grace employees put signs on rail cars carrying vermiculite warning of potential health risks. Jurors saw an image of a warning label plaintiffs’ attorneys said was attached to rail cars as early as 1977. They warned that bodily harm could result after inhaling asbestos dust
• An expert witness for the plaintiffs testified that BNSF and its predecessors sponsored geologic studies in the area, according to US News. They would’ve known as early as the 1920s that vermiculite mined near Libby had asbestos
• In the 1930s, research disseminated by the Association of American Railroads showed the health hazards of asbestos exposure

W.R. Grace wasn’t a defendant at the trial. The company played a central role in Libby’s ecological and public health disaster and has paid significant settlements to victims. The judge repeatedly reminded the jury their focus was on BNSF, not W.R. Grace.

Federal prosecutors indicted W. R. Grace and some of its executives on criminal charges in 2005 over the vermiculite contamination in Libby. A jury acquitted them in a 2009 trial.

The pollution in Libby caused by the mining and transportation of vermiculite is still being cleaned up, mostly thanks to taxpayer dollars.

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