Asbestos victims in Montana want Buffett’s railroad company held responsible

By AMY BETH HANSON and MATTHEW BROWN
Associated Press

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — An attorney for two people who died of a rare lung cancer is urging a jury to hold BNSF Railway responsible for pollution in a small Montana town near the U.S.-Canada border. Thousands of people have been exposed to toxic asbestos in Libby, Montana. The asbestos came from contaminated vermiculite from a nearby mine. A three-week trial that began Monday will focus on BNSF’s role in transporting the material through Libby. A lawsuit argues the railroad failed to contain asbestos-tainted dust that blew around town and was inhaled by residents. Attorneys for BNSF say the railroad was told repeatedly by mining company W.R. Grace that its product was safe.