Covering up the cover-ups

Mikaela says:
An article in the Washington Post today lays out a cover-up by a Montana asbestos mining company of the deadly effect of asbestos on its employees and town residents. The company that bought out the company that perpetrated the cover-up is now being taken to court -- by federal prosecutors with the help of the EPA.

What is not mentioned in the article is that this story represents the exact kind of environmental justice that Bush & Co. want to deny the American people under the guise of "tort reform" and efforts to outlaw class-action suits. The truth of the matter is that without government assistance, the residents of this town would have to simply die in agony unaided by health assistance from the very company that caused it. How can Bush still claim to want accountability? Does he even know what that word means? Maybe someone should mention it's not just an accounting term and that its meaning goes beyond spreadsheets and bottom lines.


Md. Firm Accused Of Asbestos Coverup
Contamination Scars Montana Town
By Carrie Johnson and Dina ElBoghdady
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, February 8, 2005; Page A01

Federal prosecutors yesterday charged W.R. Grace & Co. with exposing mine workers and residents in a small mountain community in Montana to deadly asbestos and covering up the danger.

The Columbia-based chemical manufacturer stands accused of breaking environmental laws and obstructing justice by misleading government officials probing the widespread contamination. The company allegedly buried a paper trail dating back to 1976 that traced how asbestos dust from its mine had permeated the lungs of workers, their family members and even residents who jogged on the high school running track in Libby, Mont.