East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service is reminding owners of any premises of the importance of complying with fire safety regulations, and the potential consequences of not doing so, after a court case resulted in a total fine of £124,455 for the directors of a residential care company.

Mr Thuraisamy Ravichandran (director and company secretary) and Mrs Radha Ravichandran (director) of Care Pro (Southeast) Limited pleaded guilty to all 12 offences at Brighton Magistrates Court in April 2024, with sentencing was happening on a later date.

On 31 October 2022 East Sussex Fire and Rescue Fire Safety Inspecting officers visited Park Apartments, 14 Egerton Road, Bexhill on Sea, East Sussex and identified the following four failures under Article 32(1)(a) Offences (under The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005):

• Duty to take general fire precautions.
• Risk assessment.
• Fire-fighting and fire detection.
• Maintenance.

On 31 October 2022 East Sussex Fire and Rescue Fire Safety Inspecting officers visited Eden Lodge, 16 Egerton Road, Bexhill on Sea, East Sussex and identified the following 2 Article 32(1)(a) Offences.

• Duty to take general fire precautions.
• Fire-fighting and fire detection.

On 2 November 2022 East Sussex Fire and Rescue Fire Safety Inspecting officers visited Park View, 25 Egerton Road, Bexhill on Sea, East Sussex and identified the following three failures under Article 32(1)(a):

• Duty to take general fire precautions.
• Risk assessment.
• Fire-fighting and fire detection.

On 3 November 2022 East Sussex Fire and Rescue Fire Safety Inspecting officers visited Beau Lodge, 7 Jameson Road, Bexhill on Sea, East Sussex and identified the following three Article 32(1)(a) failures:

• Duty to take general fire precautions.
• Risk assessment.
• Fire-fighting and fire detection.

In summary, District Judge Szagun, when considering the prosecution sentencing guidelines, upheld culpability to be high and the level of harm to be medium. In her judgement, the Judge explained that the number of vulnerable residents placed at risk due to the defective fire doors and lack of detection and alarms, raised the level of harm a higher level. The Judge added that the owners should have taken the time to understand published regulations and guidance when providing this type of service.

The defendants were fined £27,500, per offence, for four of the offences, with guilty charges upheld for the remaining offences but no separate penalty awarded. This resulted in a £110,000 fine, a £2,000 victim surcharge and £12,455 for times and costs.

This is valid as of the 22nd July 2024.

A property manager in Slough has been ordered to pay £22,646.82 for fire safety breaches following a prosecution brought by Royal Berkshire Fire Authority (RBFRS).

Mr Waheed Afzal pleaded guilty to six charges under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. The guilty plea followed an investigation conducted by RBFRS in early 2023.

The investigation found that there were several serious fire safety deficiencies at a property managed by Mr Afzal above a restaurant on High Street, Slough.

The breaches included:

• A lack of a linked fire detection system between the commercial and residential units at the property.
• Insufficient emergency lighting.
• Inadequate fire doors.
• Non-fire resisting glazing that would have compromised the means of escape in an emergency.

Mr Afzal was fined of £16,000 following the conviction which, in addition to the victim surcharge and the Fire Authority’s prosecution fees, brought the total cost paid by the defendant to £22,646.82.

Michal Kosierb, Fire Safety Enforcement Lead at RBFRS, said: “This case shows that businesses must take their commitments to fire safety seriously and that we will take action where necessary in the interest of public safety.

“As a Service, our purpose is to help keep businesses, people and communities safe. We will continue to work with business owners to help them protect themselves and their livelihoods. However, cases like this demonstrate that, if people’s safety is at stake, we will take decisive action to ensure businesses comply with the law.”

This is valid as of the 24th June 2024.

(Australia) A mining company has been convicted and fined a total of $400,000 for failing to protect workers from exposure to crystalline silica dust.

Sibelco Pty Ltd was sentenced in the Wonthaggi Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to two charges of failing to provide or maintain plant or systems of work that were safe and without risks to health.

The company was convicted and fined $200,000 for each charge and ordered to pay $20,799 in costs.

The court heard that Sibelco operated a Nyora sand quarry and mill that produced silica-based products, including silica flour, sand, and gravel.

Workers were required to manually operate a machine, which was different for each material, to fill and palletise 25-kilogramme bags of product for transportation to customers.

During the process of bagging silica flour, workers described plumes of silica dust escaping from the bags at head height and, on occasion, faulty bags bursting and leaving the machine operator covered in material.

A number of workers were placed at risk by this process between 2012 and 2020, including two who have since been diagnosed with silicosis.

The court heard it was reasonably practicable for Sibelco to reduce the risk of exposure to crystalline silica dust by having automated bagging and palletising systems in place, including an automated and enclosed bagging machine and the use of a robotic palletiser.

This is valid as of the 24th June 2024.

[Wales] The organisers of a horse and carriage fun day have been fined and ordered to pay costs totalling more than £200,000 after a teenager was killed taking part in an event in Port Talbot.

Angharad Rees, 18, suffered fatal head injuries after she was thrown from the carriage she was driving during an event more than a decade ago.

Swansea Crown Court heard the event had been organised by the British Driving Society and was held on 27 May at Afan Argoed Country Park in Port Talbot, South Wales. The teenager, who was an experienced carriage driver, was taking part in her first competitive off-road event.

Adam Farrer, prosecuting, told the court Miss Rees was using her own horse, Magic, and a carriage belonging to her groom.

Failings

“The prosecution case is that the series of failings in the organisation and safety management of the event led to the accident,” Mr Farrer said.

“This was Angharad’s first entry into such an event. Angharad’s life revolved around horses and she was an experienced rider and was confident with her horse, Magic. She had been a Pony Club member since the age of 11, had lessons in dressage and showjumping from the age of 13.”

The court heard the accident happened as Miss Rees’s horse and trap took a right turn and descended down a steep and narrow track.

“During the drive, and within 47 metres after turning right on to the track, Angharad lost control of the trap, resulting in it tipping,” Mr Farrer said.

“Very sadly Angharad’s head struck a tree, causing her severe head injuries from which sadly she died later that day.”

Safety equipment

Mr Farrer said the equipment used in the event was not inspected by organisers before the competition and those taking part were not required to wear safety equipment.

“Competitors were not required to wear any personal protective equipment, including a safety helmet,” he told the court.

“Participants were allowed to choose whether to wear such equipment. On the day of the event it was a warm, hot day and Angharad chose not to wear a helmet.”

The court also heard that before the fatal accident, two horses and carriages waiting in a holding area had bolted, causing people to scatter. One eyewitness thought mountain bikers using the park at the same time were frightening the horses.

Experts instructed by the prosecution said the route was not suitable for carriage driving and was unsafe because it was too narrow and too steep, the court heard.

“The prosecution case is that the evidence demonstrates significant failings by the British Driving Society and the use of the track made the event route dangerous, especially given as the event was described as a fun day with inexperienced participants,” he said.

“The risk assessment was not suitable or sufficient due to the hazards posed by the track and its gradient and uneven surface. The Foresty Commission had not given permission for the event to be held. The British Driving Society did not require competitors to wear personal protective equipment, such as safety helmets. The wearing of safety helmets should have been mandatory, the prosecution say, given the high-risk nature of the event and the significant hazard posed by the route, which included the forestry track.

“The prosecution say that had competitors been required to wear a safety helmet it is likely Angharad’s death would have been avoided.”

The court was told the event was organised by a local riding club affiliated to the British Driving Society, which no longer exists. At a previous hearing the British Driving Society pleaded guilty to four offences under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act.

Mark Harris, defending, said three directors of the organisation were in court out of “respect” to the legal proceedings.

“The BDS as an organisation had no real opportunity to change or amend the arrangements in place or impose its own normal standards, those which allowed it to be a fault-free organisation for all of its existence apart from this one occasion,” he said.

Judge Geraint Walters imposed a fine of £90,000 and ordered the British Driving Society to pay costs of £140,000.

Passing sentence, the judge said the investigation into the incident uncovered a “casual approach to formality”.

“The evidence in the case compels me to the view that the route used that day was wholly inadequate to ensure the safety of competitors for all myriad of reasons,” he said.

“The reality in this case is that the event was planned with less precision, it seems to me, than might be applied to a church fete. The culpability of this defendant company is not that they deliberately set out to cut corners or wilfully allowed unsafe practices to be deployed.

“But rather having willingly assumed a legal duty to ensure safety, given that the event was held under their auspices, failed to do anything it seems to me, to ensure safety of this event. Their reliance was wholly on the actions of Cimla Ride and Drive Club to ensure safety, which we now know, and they now know, was nigh on non-existent.”

This is valid as of the 24th June 2024.

A car wash firm in Devon has been fined £40,000 after it repeatedly failed to protect workers and members of the public from electrical safety risks.

HSE Investigators carried out multiple visits to Best Car Wash Ltd in Tavistock between July 2021 and November 2022. They found employees were carrying out car washing outdoors, using electrical appliances such as pressure washers and vacuum cleaners. However, the company had failed to ensure the installation had been constructed or maintained to prevent danger to both the employees and members of the public. As a result of the electrical hazards identified, the company was issued with five enforcement notices.

Despite the notices, subsequent visits found they had not been complied with and it wasn’t until April 2023 that a competent person inspected, tested and repaired the installation.

The HSE investigation found the failure of the employer to comply with the initial notice resulted in electrical safety risks to the vulnerable workers persisting for longer.

Best Car Wash Ltd of Plymouth Road, Tavistock, Devon did not provide representation at Plymouth Magistrates’ Court and were found guilty in their absence of breaching Section 3(1) of the Electricity at Work Regs and Reg 33 (1)(g) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

They were fined £40,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3,164 on 6 June 2024.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Principal Inspector Helena Allum said: “We can and will prosecute if companies fail to comply with enforcement notices.

“Those in control of work have a responsibility to ensure safe methods of working. The dangers associated with electricity in a work environment are well known and a wealth of advice and guidance is freely available from HSE.”

This is valid as of the 17th June 2024.

A construction company has been fined following the death of a worker. Gary Webster lost his life two days after drowning in the River Aire on 30 October 2017.

Mr Webster and another worker had been on a boat removing debris at the bottom of the weir gates at Knostrop Weir when their boat capsized. The boat had been pulled into turbulent water, caused by the considerable flow of water flowing over the top of the weir.

The 60-year-old was repeatedly pulled under the water and was eventually recovered by a diver 14 minutes later. The other worker managed to swim to safety.

Mr Webster was pronounced dead on 1 November 2017 at Leeds General Infirmary.

Investigating, the HSE found BAM Nuttall Ltd had several operatives who were trained and authorised to control the weir gates so that the flow of the water could be slowed down. This would have allowed the debris to float away or be reached safely by boat. However, the company failed to carry out this task.

BAM Nuttall Limited, of Knoll Road, Camberley, Surrey, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £2.345 million and ordered to pay £25,770.48 in costs.

HSE inspector Jayne Towey said: “BAM Nuttall Ltd failed to plan the work. It failed to carry out any assessment of the risks involved with the task. It failed to have any regard to the recognised hierarchy of controls to reduce the risk associated with removing debris from the water. It failed to ensure that suitable safety measures were in place and failed to put in place a safe system of work.

“This incident could so easily have been avoided by simply carrying out correct control measures and safe working practices.”

This prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Jonathan Bambro and supported by HSE paralegal officer Sarah Thomas.

This is valid as of the 17th June 2024.

The long-term health of workers at a wood waste recycling centre was put in danger due to excessive exposure to the dust their work created, a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecution has found.

Esken Renewables Limited, a waste and recycling company that specialises in generating biofuel from renewable waste, ran a wood waste recycling centre in Middlesborough that processed mixed wood waste, hardwood, and softwood into biofuel.

Breathing in wood dust excessively can cause asthma and nasal cancer. In particular, dust from softwood wood dust is a known asthmagen while particles from hardwood are a known carcinogen.

A HSE inspector visited the site in April 2022 to investigate the dust exposures on the site. A few weeks earlier, concerns had been raised about wood dust spreading to the surrounding area. The inspector wrote in detail to Esken Renewables with evidence demonstrating the extent of the wood dust exposure to staff, so that the right action could be taken by the company to control the risks.

The company provided a detailed response, and it was accepted that exposures to the surrounding area was in large part due to four storms in quick succession.

However, the HSE investigation found that the control of wood dust to protect employees working on and around the site was not adequate and fell short of the expected benchmark.

The company failed to design and operate processes and activities to minimise emission, release, and spread of wood dust. One solution would be through the use of local exhaust ventilation, the enclosure of machinery, or the designing of the processes such as using vacuum systems as opposed to compressed air for cleaning and maintenance.

Esken Renewables Limited, who operated the site at Port Clarence Road, Port Clarence, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty of breaching Regulation 7(1) of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 2002 and were fined £160,000 and ordered to pay £5,310.35 in costs at Teesside Magistrates’ Court on 23 May 2024.

This is valid as of the 3rd June 2024.

Waste operators who repeatedly ignored Environment Agency advice that their sites posed a persistent fire-risk, before fires broke out that burned for days, have been sentenced.

Punishment included prison sentences spanning 6.5 years and fines totalling more than £103,000.

The six defendants appeared for sentencing at Teesside crown court for multiple environmental offences spanning across three sites:

• Greenology (Liverton) Ltd at Liverton, near Loftus – involving its director Laura Hepburn, 44, of Stonebridgegate, Ripon, and manager Jonathan Guy Brudenell, 54, of no fixed address. Waste storage issues at this site culminated in a fire that happened in April 2020. Selective Environmental Solutions Ltd (SESL) and its director Jonathan Waldron, 42, of Winton in Northallerton, operated on this site with Brudenell prior to Greenology taking over, and also illegally deposited waste at a farm near Whitby.
• Old Eldon Brickworks in Eldon, Bishop Auckland – involving Waldron, as a director of Falcons Two Ltd, who failed to comply with an enforcement notice and kept waste in a manner likely to cause pollution. This led to a major fire at the site in August 2020.
• Greenology (Teesside) Ltd at Sotheby Road, Skippers Lane Industrial Estate in Middlesbrough – Hepburn, as director of this separate company, was sentenced for offences in 2021 and 2022 relating to the illegal storage of waste tyres.

The court heard the defendants repeatedly ignored Environment Agency advice about the storage and management of waste and the significant fire risk posed by all three sites.

Also, in an apparent attempt to preserve the reputation of the Greenology name, when notified in 2021 of the prosecution for the Liverton site, Laura Hepburn changed the company name to LM South Yorkshire Ltd.

The defendants were sentenced as follows:

• Brudenell was jailed for two years and 10 months.
• Hepburn was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two years, with 150 hours of unpaid work in the community.
• Waldron was sentenced to 20 months in prison, suspended for two years with requirements of probation supervision, rehabilitation, and 150 hours of unpaid work in the community. He was also ordered to pay £9,000 in costs.
• Greenology (Liverton) was fined £69,000.
• Greenology (Teesside) was fined £20,000.
• SESL was fined £14,666.66.

The court was told that SESL first operated at the Liverton site between December 2018 and February 2019 with Waldron as director, Brudenell in a managerial role and Hepburn also involved. SESL registered several waste exemptions, which allow low-level waste activity that does not require an environmental permit.

In January 2019, the Environment Agency started investigating SESL as it was immediately in breach of its waste exemption storage limit of 500 tonnes.

But after a fall out between the defendants, Hepburn set up Greenology (Liverton) Ltd, which took over the site in February 2019. Throughout this period, Brudenell continued in a management role, all the time using the false name Guy Barker, a fact known by Hepburn.

Waste on site continued to increase, with the Environment Agency warning about the amount of waste and the fire-risk it posed and taking subsequent enforcement action to have it cleared from the site. Whilst the site was largely cleared, by late 2019, it had quickly been refilled with waste plastic.

On 5 April 2020, a major fire broke out which quickly spread through the baled plastic waste and the building and destroyed the site. The fire burned for nine days, hugely impacting local residents who couldn’t be evacuated because of the COVID-19 national lockdown.

By helping to run both SESL and Greenology (Liverton), Brudenell was breaching a bankruptcy restriction order that prohibited him from running a company and had been imposed as a result of multiple fraud offences.

Hepburn was also director of Greenology (Teesside) Ltd, which she set up in February 2020, and dealt mainly with waste tyres. An Environment Agency inspection in June 2021 revealed the number of tyres exceeded the limit of the site’s waste exemption and posed a significant fire risk.

She repeatedly claimed that the business was going to build a pyrolysis plant, for recycling end of life tyres, and had obtained a permit from Middlesbrough Borough Council for this. However, despite obtaining large sums from business partners no pyrolysis plant was ever built, and the site continually handled excessive volumes of waste tyres which threatened to damage the environment.

In a separate case, in February 2020 Falcons Two Ltd took over the operation of the Old Brickworks at Eldon, Bishop Auckland, with Waldron as one of its directors and the person with waste management knowledge.

But the site was never in compliance with its environmental permit and was continually storing excessive volumes of waste causing a major fire risk.

Following inspections of the site, the Environment Agency told Waldron to take remedial action to bring the site back into compliance given the risk of a significant environmental incident due to multiple failures of the site’s fire prevention plan.

It also issued an enforcement notice requiring the site to remove waste and create fire breaks, which was breached just before the major fire broke out in August 2020. This fire also burned for many days and was challenging for the fire service due to the sheer volume of waste involved.

This is valid as of the 29th May 2024.

(United States) A federal workplace safety investigation following the death of a licensed practical nurse during an 28 October 2023, home visit in Willimantic, Connecticut, found one of the nation’s largest home-based care providers did not provide adequate safeguards to protect the nurse, Joyce Grayson, and other employees from the dangers of workplace violence.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) determined that on or about 28 October 2023, and at times prior, Elara Caring exposed home healthcare employees to workplace violence from patients who exhibited aggressive behavior and were known to pose a risk to others.

Following its investigation, OSHA cited Jordan Health Care Inc. and New England Home Care Inc., both doing business as Elara Caring, for one willful violation under the agency’s general duty clause. OSHA cited the employer for not developing and implementing adequate measures to protect employees from the ongoing serious hazard of workplace violence. The agency also cited the employer for one other-than-serious violation for not providing work-related injury and illness records to OSHA within four business hours, as required.

Elara Caring faces $163,627 in proposed penalties.

OSHA also found that Elara Caring could have reduced the hazard of workplace violence by, among other ways, performing root cause analyses on incidents of violence and near misses, providing clinicians with comprehensive background information on patients prior to home visits, providing emergency panic alert buttons to clinicians, and developing procedures for the use of safety escorts for visits to patients with high-risk behaviors.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

This is valid as of the 13th May 2024.

A carpentry contractor has been fined after a 22-year-old man died after he was struck by construction equipment on a building site.

On 30 October 2019, Niall McCormack from Kettering, Northamptonshire had been working for KM Carpentry Contractors Limited installing roof trusses at a new build site at Alconbury Weald, Cambridgeshire.

Both the truss packs and party wall spandrel panel had been lifted by crane onto a pair of semi-detached properties the day before the incident – temporarily supported by timber restraints.

Mr McCormack was working with another carpenter to remove trusses from the pack, to then spread and install across the building. As the two carpenters were in the process of spreading, the wind caught a spandrel panel, pushing it against the remaining trusses in the pack. Both the truss pack and spandrel panel fell into the work area. Niall McCormack was struck by the falling material and suffered a fatal head injury.

The HSE’s investigation found that KM Carpentry Contractors Limited had failed to identify the risk of wind loading, and the effect this could have on the stability of the spandrel panel prior to being secured in place. The method statement for the installation of the spandrel panels included lifting and placing them on the roof only after the roof trusses had been installed and permanently secured. This could not be followed as they had both been placed on the roof at the same time as the roof trusses the day before.

KM Carpentry Contractors Limited, of High Street, Higham Ferrers pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act and was fined £8,000 with costs of £6,974.

After the hearing, HSE Inspector Jenny Morris said: “Our thoughts are with Niall’s family, a 22-year-old who was just setting out on his career in the construction industry.

“This case highlights the importance of identifying the risks associated with a work activity and ensuring a safe system of work is devised and then followed.”

A family statement said: “The whole family has been badly affected by Niall’s loss. One of his friends is going to Australia and we can’t help thinking Niall should be here and going with him.

“Niall has lost the ability to grow up and have children of his own. He won’t be getting married and all the things you do as families. He’s missed out on so much, for what, going to work. No one should go to work and not come back.”

The prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Samantha Wells and paralegal officer Lucy Gallagher.

This is valid as of the 13th May 2024.

A Yorkshire metals recycling company has been fined £1.2m after a worker was injured after being struck by a wagon at a processing site.

On 10 August 2020 an employee of CF Booth Limited was walking across the site yard in Rotherham when he was struck by a moving 32-tonne skip wagon. The man was not wearing his hi-vis jacket and did not see the wagon approaching. The wagon driver did not see the employee prior to the collision due to concentrating on manoeuvring the vehicle around some low-level skips which had been placed on the corner near where the employee was crossing the yard.

Following the incident, the man sustained a fractured skull and also fractured his collar bone in two places. He has since made a full recovery.

Investigating, the HSE found that at the time of the incident the site was not organised in such a way that pedestrians and vehicles could circulate safely. The investigation revealed:

• A suitable and sufficient workplace transport risk assessment was not in place for the segregation of vehicles and pedestrians.
• The company had failed to take steps to properly assess the risks posed by the movement of vehicles and pedestrians.

The incident could have been prevented by adequately assessing the risks and implementing appropriate control measures such as physical barriers and crossing points.

CF Booth Limited of Clarence Metal Works, Armer St, Rotherham, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. They were fined £1.2million and ordered to pay costs of £5,694.85.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Kirstie Durrans said: “If CF Booth Limited had assessed the risks and ensured vehicles and pedestrians could circulate in a safe manner, this incident could have easily been avoided.”

This HSE prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyers Karen Park and Kate Harney, and supported by paralegal officer Rebecca Forman.

This is valid as of the 7th May 2024.

(United States) A federal jury has said that BNSF Railway contributed to the deaths of two people who were exposed to asbestos decades ago when tainted mining material was shipped through a Montana town where thousands have been sickened.

The jury awarded $4 million each in compensatory damages to the estates of the two plaintiffs, who died in 2020. Jurors said asbestos-contaminated vermiculite that spilled in the rail yard in the town of Libby, Montana was a substantial factor in the plaintiffs’ illnesses and deaths.

The vermiculite from Libby has high concentrations of naturally-occurring asbestos and was used in insulation and for other commercial purposes in homes and businesses across the U.S.

After being mined from a mountaintop outside town, it was loaded onto rail cars that sometimes spilled the material in the Libby rail yard. Residents have described piles of vermiculite being stored in the yard and dust from the facility blowing through downtown Libby.

The jury did not find that BNSF acted intentionally or with indifference so no punitive damages were awarded. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. acquired BNSF in 2010, two decades after the W.R. Grace and Co. vermiculite mine near Libby shut down and stopped shipping the contaminated mineral.

The estates of the two victims argued that the railroad knew the asbestos-tainted vermiculite was dangerous and failed to clean it up. Both lived near the rail yard decades ago and died from mesothelioma, a rare lung cancer linked to asbestos exposure.

The pollution in Libby has been cleaned up, largely at public expense. W.R. Grace, which played a central role in the town’s tragedy, filed for bankruptcy in 2001 and paid $1.8 billion into an asbestos trust fund to settle future cases.

Yet the long timeframe over which asbestos-related diseases develop means people previously exposed are likely to continue getting sick for years to come, health officials say.

The case in federal civil court over the two deaths was the first of numerous lawsuits against the Texas-based railroad corporation to reach trial over its past operations in Libby. Current and former residents of the town near the U.S.-Canada border want BNSF held accountable, accusing it of playing a role in asbestos exposure that health officials say has killed several hundred people and sickened thousands.

The railroad was considering whether to appeal, said a BNSF spokesperson.

Federal prosecutors in 2005 indicted W. R. Grace and executives from the company on criminal charges over the contamination in Libby. A jury acquitted them following a 2009 trial.

The Environmental Protection Agency descended on Libby after 1999 news reports of illnesses and deaths among mine workers and their families. In 2009 the agency declared in Libby the nation’s first ever public health emergency under the federal Superfund cleanup programme.

A second trial against the railroad over the death of a Libby resident is scheduled for May in federal court in Missoula.

This is valid as of the 29th April 2024.