Counsel for W. R. Grace Acquitted

The final defendant in the W. R. Grace asbestos crimes case has been acquitted. This week, federal prosecutors dismissed the charges against the only remaining defendant in the criminal case against Grace. Last month, Grace and three of the company’s former executives were acquitted of all charges relating to a criminal conspiracy to hide the fact that asbestos-laced vermiculite mined by Grace was slowly killing residents of the town of Libby, Montana.

The last remaining defendant was the company’s legal counsel, O. Mario Favorito, who was severed due to a “conflict of interest.”

Favorito was scheduled to go to trial in September. Now, however, the charges against him have been dismissed. According to a government document pertinent to the dismissal, the charges against Favorito were dismissed on May 8th.

The Grace trial lasted 35 days, and the residents of Libby were shocked when all defendants were acquitted. Approximately 227 members of the Libby community have died from asbestos-related disease, and nearly two thousand more have been made ill by asbestos.

A study conducted by the Center for Asbestos Related Disease in Libby found that since 1998, an astonishing 77 individuals in the community developed an asbestos illness due to secondhand exposure. None of these 77 individuals worked for W. R. Grace.

Asbestos causes lung cancer, mesothelioma, and asbestosis. Although various treatment options are available, mesothelioma has no cure, and progresses through the body very rapidly. Most sufferers perish within two years of their initial diagnosis.