Baucus introduces bill to place $250M in health-care trust for Libby asbestos victims

WASHINGTON — Members of Montana's congressional delegation recommend swift reprisal against W.R. Grace & Co., for the pending reduction in health-care compensation available to hundreds sickened by asbestos from the company's mine near Libby, Mont.

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., introduced legislation Wednesday that would require Grace, which operates under bankruptcy protection, to place $250 million in a health-care trust fund for Libby victims of asbestos exposure. Also Wednesday, Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg of Montana asked Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt to investigate HNA/Triveras, a health-care administrator for Grace.

HNA/Triveras sent letters to about 700 Libby residents this month, saying they no longer have asbestos-related disease or may not be as sick as they thought.

About 200 deaths and many more cases of disease have been blamed on asbestos contamination associated with Grace's vermiculite mine, which closed in 1990. The Libby Asbestos Medical Plan was funded by a $2.75 million court settlement between Grace and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, money earmarked to help pay for health-care needs not otherwise covered through Grace.

Baucus's bill would require Grace to pay into the trust fund before the company is allowed to emerge from bankruptcy proceedings.

‘‘We've always feared Grace would bail out of their health-care responsibilities,'' Baucus said Wednesday. ‘‘That's why we must continue to hold Grace's feet to the fire in every way we can.''

In his letter, Rehberg asked Leavitt to ‘‘become fully and personally engaged in this issue and to launch a full-scale investigation into HNA's actions.''

‘‘I have been contacted by numerous constituents from the Libby area who are frightened, angry and frustrated,'' Rehberg wrote.

The vermiculite mine near Libby contained naturally occurring tremolite asbestos, a particularly dangerous form of the mineral. The long, needle-like asbestos fibers easily can become embedded in human lungs and cause such illnesses as asbestosis, often fatal, and mesothelioma, a rare, fast-moving cancer that attacks the lining of the lungs.

A bill passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee, but not yet considered by the full Senate, includes a provision that would pay sickened Libby residents up to $1.1 million each for asbestos-related diseases.

The size of individual payments would depend on the level of sickness. The highest payments would be for people suffering mesothelioma, but all those sickened would get at least $400,000.

The legislation would end asbestos liability lawsuits in exchange for a multibillion-dollar compensation fund. Baucus, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, has said he will withhold support for the bill unless Libby residents are compensated.

The EPA has declared Libby a Superfund site and since 1999 has been cleaning contaminated property, including homes and businesses, in the town. Earlier this year, a federal grand jury indicted Grace and seven executives, accusing them of conspiring for decades to hide the danger. Grace has denied any criminal wrongdoing.