Update on the federal criminal prosecution of W.R. Grace officials in Montana

Things are looking worse by the day for federal prosecutors in the case against five W.R. Grace officials who are accused of several felonies "in connection with their operation of a vermiculite mine in Libby" Montana, population 2,626. W.R. Grace operated the Libby mine from 1963 until 1990, and "prosecutors have argued that Grace executives knew from at least the 1970s that asbestos, which was naturally interlaced with the vermiculite being tak[en] from Zonolite Mountain, just outside Libby ... was poisoning workers and residents. The company's lawyers have argued that the government knew the concerns, too, and did nothing."

Now, the federal district judge in the case has said he believes virtually nothing that the prosecution's start witness, a former Grace executive, has said in his testimony, and the judge has dismissed all charges against one of the former Grace officials. The judge has also publicly excoriated the chief prosecutor, the United States Attorney for Montana.

Read Kirk Johnson's full reports of recent turns in the case in the New York Times, here, here and here. Read an earlier post about the matter here.