W.R. Grace, the multibillion-dollar, multinational chemical company that sold asbestos-contaminated vermiculite from Libby, Montana, around the world from 1963 to 1990, does not want people to be ''unduly concerned''.
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''There is no documented case of asbestos-related disease resulting from living, working or visiting in buildings with Grace's asbestos-containing products,'' Rich Badmington, the company's vice-president, global communications, says.
''Specific to your comments about Grace's former Zonolite Attic Insulation product, which often contained Libby vermiculite, I am attaching the post-trial decision of the US Bankruptcy Court which held that Zonolite Attic Insulation does not pose an unreasonable risk of harm.''
On close examination, neither of Mr Badmington's assurances offer much in the way of comfort to homeowners with UniFil or Zonolite granular insulation in their roof cavities, or former building workers who applied vermiculate sprays as insulation and fire retardants with little or nothing in the way of protective clothing or face masks in in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s as he might like.
A probable reason for the lack of proven cases of asbestos-related disease linked to Zonolite in buildings was touched on by Mr Badmington in his response to Fairfax.
''With the impending consummation of Grace's court-approved Joint Plan of Reorganisation, two independent trusts totalling over $US4 billion [$4.57 billion] soon will begin compensating legitimate claims of individuals who were harmed by asbestos exposures,'' he said.
''The joint plan - and its centrepiece trusts - constitute the court-approved disposition of Grace's asbestos-related liabilities. The US court-issued injunctions [which are effective worldwide] require all claims based on asbestos exposure from Grace products to be submitted to one of the trusts.''
The entities intended to compensate such claims are not yet in existence.
The 54-page judgment from the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, which Mr Badmington says exonerates Zonolite Attic Insulation, raises more questions than it answers.
Handed down on December 14, 2006, it is now more than seven years old and relies on statements made by American Environmental Protection Agency officials dating to the early years of this century.
''People who have homes with vermiculite insulation should become informed, not alarmed,'' Stephen L. Johnson, the EPA's assistant administrator for the Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances
is quoted as saying ''in a study which refused to declare a public health emergency in Libby, Montana [where the vermiculite was mined and processed], despite the argument that Zonolite Attic Insulation has the potential to create additional asbestos risks to the community''.
Fast forward 18 months to June 16, 2009, and the EPA was singing a very different tune.
In a landmark decision, it issued the first ever declaration of a public health emergency at a particular site under the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act.
''Over the years hundreds of asbestos-related-disease cases have been documented in this small community which covers the towns of Libby and Troy,'' EPA administrator Lisa P. Jackson said. ''Investigations performed by the agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry have found the incidence of occurrence of asbestosis in the Libby area staggeringly higher than the national average.
''This is a tragic public health situation that has not received the recognition it deserves by the federal government for far too long.''
The Delaware Court ruling does seem to confirm W.R. Grace was aware of the tremolite contamination and took steps to minimise the danger.
''Zonolite Attic Insulation is comprised of an expanded material known as vermiculite,'' it states.
''The vermiculite was mined from Zonolite Mountain, located 10 miles [16 kilometres] from Libby. Vermiculite is not asbestos. However, one of the 'tramp' materials contained in the vermiculite ore mined at Libby was asbestos [tremolite].
''After mining this crude vermiculite ore and prior to furnace expansion, Grace milled the ore to remove impurities such as asbestos. Grace contends that the percentage of asbestos remaining in Zonolite Attic Insulation is generally less than 1 per cent.''
By 2008 the NSW government was advising building workers that ''as for many cancer-causing substances, no safe level of [asbestos] exposure for lung cancer or mesothelioma has been identified''.
W. R. Grace's ''less than 1 per cent'' was not good enough.