Grace Asbestos in the Attic

Vermiculite Claims Due Soon From Canadians, Later for Americans

By Amy Linn, 8-24-09

	Vermiculite, with a quarter to show scale. Photo by EPA.

It’s the stuff of fairy tales to discover unexpected treasures in the attic. In real life, unfortunately, people do find surprises in their attics—and the endings aren’t always happy ones. That’s particularly the case in Canada these days as thousands of residents come to terms with an insulation called Zonolite made by W.R. Grace & Co.

According to a Toronto Star feature story by reporter Jennifer Wells, Zonolite, containing a natural mineral called vermiculite, was poured into an estimated 242,000 homes in Canada. “Easy as pouring popcorn from a bag,” ads once said about the product, Wells writes.

But the vermiculite in Zonolite was mined from Libby, Montana, and was contaminated with asbestos, a potent carcinogen. (For information from the Environmental Protection Agency about vermiculite and what to do if you suspect it’s in your home, click here.)

This month, Canadians are facing an unsettling deadline about the toxic product: “Legal efforts in Canada to financially assist homeowners in the containment or removal of Zonolite from their attics have resulted in a frail settlement that is just a fraction of what U.S. homeowners are in line to receive,” Wells reports.

W.R. Grace’s vermiculite from Libby could be in as many as 10 million homes in the United States, according to estimates from Dr. Christopher Weis, a toxicologist for the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

Indeed, after being besieged by more than 100,000 personal injury claims related to its asbestos products, Grace filed for bankruptcy protection in 2001.

Here’s how Wells describes the company’s bankruptcy settlement terms, which could be approved as early as next month:

-- Americans can receive 55 percent of $7,500 (on average it costs $7,000 and up to remove Zonolite from a residence). The money will come from a W.R. Grace trust set up to pay asbestos-related claims against the company over the next 20 years or so.

—Canadians will be able to negotiate settlements of about $300 to $600, but must file a claim by 5 p.m. Aug. 31.

To read all of Wells’ excellent story, click here.

To see daily blogs about the W.R. Grace criminal trial, in which the company and its executives were accused of conspiring to contaminate Libby with asbestos-tainted vermiculite, click here.

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