GCF

Unfortunately I have to agree with the verdict. From what I had heard on this case there was no evidence to suggest that they purposely contaminated the air. That said, I do believe that the individuals have a right to pursue a civil case if they have not been compensated as of yet.

Don't think it was about air contamination. My brief take on it is that the government really thought that they had a slam-dunk case, but they were surprised and dismayed at the "evidentiary" rulings that Judge Molloy made--i.e., he told them they couldn't show the jury a lot of stuff they thought they'd be able to (and also, couldn't show it to the jury HOW they thought they'd be able to). So the government never really got to put on the case they thought they'd be able to. A big part of that was that a lot of the "smoking gun" evidence was before the 1990 Clean Air Act criminal statute was enacted, so it couldn't be used to show guilt for that Act. Molloy was very active during the trial and might be second-guessed on appeal for some of the stuff. But evidentiary rulings are tough to get overturned. Anyways one article likened it to the "OJ Simpson verdict" of environmental crime, which might be a stretch but sums up the gut reaction of a lot of people to the trial.

I've been following the case fairly closely due to family members living in Libby and gotta say that I wasn't really surprised by the outcome - severly disappointed, but not surprised. Given that they quit mining in 1990, and the gov't had to show that the violations happened after 1990 (after the Clean Air Act) and especially after 1999 when the statute of limitations took effect. With the gov't dropping the charges against a couple of the defendents already and the several motions to dismiss that the judge hadn't ruled on (and had the authority to rule on to dismiss even after a possible guilty verdict), and one of the gov'ts biggest witnesses possibly perjuring himself on the stand, you had to see the writing on the wall.

Like you brian i also have(family members) an aunt and uncle that live in libby and have for 50 years. My aunt has the asbestosis or whatever it is called. I truly am heartbroken for the people that live there. I have never been a big fan of mining and i understand that it is a necessary evil but civil and environmental responsibility have plagued mining since the dawn of time. There is the classic case of that where i currently live. I was disappointed that the criminal case didn't bear fruit and when watching the news with those fat cats smiling and strolling back to their east coast bank accounts i can only hope that the civil case will come to bear. I understand that money will never be compensation enough for the suffering and loss of family and friends that may continue for generations and my thoughts and prayers go out to each and everyone who is affected by the greed and, well, greed of wr grace.

I thought for sure there would be some guilt found. Truthfully, I was hoping this would be a precedent setting case for future environmental degration trials, or at least a warning to current and future mine owners to be careful with local communities. Sadly, the precedent set is not the one I was hoping for, and the verdict should only embolden mining companies.