WR Grace ordered to pay $54.5 mln in asbestos case

Published by MAC on 2003-08-29

WR Grace ordered to pay $54.5 mln in asbestos case

29 August 2003

Reuters

Washington, USA - A federal court has ruled against W.R. Grace & Co. (GRA.N) over cleanup costs of an asbestos site near Libby, Montana, ordering the company to pay $54.5 million, the largest fine ever in a lawsuit brought under the federal Superfund law.

The money will help cover the cleanup costs at Grace's former vermiculite mining and processing activities that were incurred by the Environmental Protection Agency through Dec. 31, 2001.

Donald Molloy, chief judge for the U.S. District Court, District of Montana, made public on Wednesday his ruling in favor of the federal government.

In addition, the court order said Grace would be responsible for paying EPA's future costs to clean up hundreds of residential and commercial facilities contaminated by the company's operations. Eventually Grace may have to pay EPA $110 million, an agency official told Reuters.

Based on Grace's latest quarterly report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said it had set aside $61 million by June 30 of this year to handle the EPA lawsuit and future cost recovery claims expected to be made by the agency.