Libby Montana Case Study

A small western town, Libby Montana is known as the land of shiny mountains, originating from loggers and fur traders. Amongst the mountains is a 25-26 million year old volcano that was discovered to be a source of ore. Strip mines soon developed around 1923, providing well paying jobs for the citizens of the sleepy town. Zonolite merged with W.R. Grace and Company, becoming the the biggest employer of the towns men who pride themselves on being hard working and family oriented. These men worked many long days for many years amongst clouds of dust kicked up from the mines and production of vermiculite, zonolite, and tremolite, substances to later to be found extremely toxic. Stories of the workers are told in the video of dust clouds covering …show more content…
It was an honest living, working hard was something the employers of the mines pride themselves on. W.R. Grace and Company came into their town in 1963, taking over the mines. The company was a very profitable one, passing a billion in sales. Giants in the company like Earl Lovick were getting rich at the expense of the workers health. Unaware of the toxicity of the vermiculite, the workers were slowly being killed. This can be described as a case of corporate murder. W.R. Grace and company knew of the risks associated with exposure to the products of the mine, yet selfishly continued to put the employees lives at risk for their own financial gains. Lung disease and asbestosis began to ravish the town, killing hundreds of Libby residents. Pain and suffering was knowingly inflicted upon the towns people, their lives disregarded as though they were invalid, not human. As the workers and citizens of Libby began to find out they have been lied to they rightfully lost all respect, loyalty, and trust for W.R. Grace and Company. By the time the full effects of the toxins and true colors of the company were exposed much of the damage had already been done. The company did not step up and own up to the horrific deeds that had been done to its faithful employees, instead they tried to cover up, lie, and betray the people of Libby even more. Although the mill closed in 1990 due to liability, the company claimed bankruptcy and moved money to off shore accounts. The people of Libby were taken advantage of, mislead, used, and their lives were not valued, they were depersonalized by W.R. Grace and Company.