EPA Attorney Matt Cohn visit to Libby

Anonymous Guest Apr 03, 2008 4:36 PM	I have a whoel list of questions for this guy. I hoep some og you will decide to ask on my and of course your own behalf: 1. The Federal Bankruptcy Judge for WR Grace indicated that "risk" for those people who have their homes insulated with WR Grace vermiculite. is less than being killed from riding a bicycle. That is an amazing statement! EPA says they need to spend 15 years and 100 million dollars to determine what "risk" is in Libby. How did this judge simply pull that risk out of a hat? Or was she simply BSing the American Public? 2. If one does not actually know the risk, or in simple terms how many people across the United States have been and will eventually be killed by WR Grace vermiculite, how did you manage to negotiate a settlement with WR Grace? Didn't you get the very short end of the stick in that negotiation? Meaning didn't WR Grace actually maneuver or manipulate you into a really dumb settlement? 3. Why is WR Grace still alive and my father isn't? 4. Did you consider the costs of Public Health Emergency, which has been denied to Libby residents since day one, but it is required and must be instituted, in your negotiations with WR Grace? If not why should the government pay the bill for it and WR Grace escape payment? If your answer is you only negotiated the costs of clean up, why are people's future health care not just as important if not more so than that? 5. Based upon your calculations for negotiation, how many more people in Libby are expected to die from WR Grace vermiculite exposures? We should be allowed to know. How many more years will it take for the deaths to stop? 6. Based upon your calculations for negotiation, EPA has told us that they don't even know what level they must clean Libby up to. In addition it appears that continued exposures will occur over the next decades by leaving vermiculite in place inside homes in Libby. These continued exposures will undoubtedly result in deaths. Additional cleaning will undoubtedly be required at a later date since EPA is acting incompetently in the first round (and second round now that they discovered they didn't do it well enough the first time) clean up. How did you know how much money WR Grace was responsible for when EPA tells us they don't have any clue? 7. And in case you didn't; get the point the first time. Why is WR Grace still alive and my father isn't? Terry
Mike Crill Guest Apr 03, 2008 9:54 PM	Hi Terry.It is kinda like a month ago:Hay Bob,gas at town pump is $2.75 a gal.Well, that's a penny cheaper than down the road.Week later: Hay Bob,gas $3 dollars at town pump.Well I just paid $2.95 down the street.Following week: Hay Bob,can you frickin believe it,$3.20 for a frickin gal of gas.Well I just paid $3.16 down the road.This week:Hay Bob,hell of a deal,$3.05 at the pump.Yah Bob,I paid $3.02 down the road.What a hell of a deal.Hopefully by next week it'll be under $3.00.Next week gas was $4.00 a gallon.Hay Bob,we should of filled up last week.Guess we'll have to stay home again.Point made, so easy done.Same thing with Tremolite asbestos except there is no good deal with asbestos reguardless. Boy did $250 Million bring out the maggots in Libby. Still not a soul saved with all exposed no matter what Libby,EPA does.Pay the people who want to leave Libby. Pay those who want to stay.Have money set aside to pay for my children and those we leave behind.Pay the people and allow Libby Mt to die,with WR Grace.Read the Libby Fix because this could be used to compensate all people in each state who has and will have a lawsuit against the States for asbestos exposure and death.This way all the States will not go bankrupt and WR Grace and the others can/will finance what all is needed after that.The Libby Fix is fair and just and needs to be put into law.For all in this State with asbestos sueing their State as Libby sued Montana.Will be a very interesting month/years.Talk later.
excav8n 2 posts Apr 03, 2008 10:33 PM	Terry; Let me add my two cents worth. 1: Judge Judith Fitzgerald didn't pull her figures out of a hat. EPA and ATSDR, when caught in court and sworn to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, told the judge that they had no science proving Vermiculite Attic Insulation posed any threat to human health. All agreed that it had to be disturbed before it posed a threat, thus the homeowners couldn't collect on a product that poses no threat. (if left undisturbed) 2: The settlement does not provide anything for the rest of the nation, only Libby was mentioned as beneficiaries. Actually, the money is to be used at "EPA's sole discretion". Sends a shiver up my spine. 3: WR Grace is dead. He was born in 1854. 4: The government should share the costs because this is an issue of regulatory failure. Personally, I would like to see EPA officials indicted alongside Grace officials. 5: We're all gonna die. Make plans. 6: WOW, tough question. Good luck with that. 7: WR Grace is still dead, he died before this started. You are dealing with a faceless, nameless, souless behemoth. That applies to EPA also. There is no personal responsibility in society today. It is important to note that the State of Montana has filed it's own claim in bankruptcy court. Also, the criminal indictments were filed as a civil case. The government is angling for a provision in the law which can award double after tax profits on conviction. Grace made $140 million in Libby, thus the feds would like to claim $280 million. Grace set aside Billions in accrual accounts to pay for the inevitable, you can bet they will gladly settle for half a billion and change. Last Edited on 3-Apr-2008 10:38 PM
Terry Guest Apr 04, 2008 9:25 AM	I knew the answers to these questions. The real answers. First rule in Law, "never ask a question you don't know the answer to". Smart ass answers are what government supplies. Not us. Political answers are the last hiding place of a scoundrel. They may be acceptable to most people, but they are not to me. They are simply excuses and I could not care less regarding their or anyone else's various political intrigues. The idea here is attempting to get away from the hum drum run of the mill mind numbing questions asked in Libby of people who have far more responsibility in government than appears to be recognized. For example, Eliot Ness laid a ground work for taking down a criminal many years ago. It was imagination more than law. Why does this attorney not have the ided that direction anyway". Terry
Terry Guest Apr 04, 2008 9:30 AM	Wow, that previous post turned into gobbledigook!! I knew the answers to these questions. The real answers. First rule in Law, "never ask a question you don't know the answer to". Smart ass answers are what government supplies. Not us. Political answers are the last hiding place of a scoundrel. They may be acceptable to most people, but they are not to me. They are simply excuses and I could not care less regarding their or anyone else's various political intrigues. The idea here is attempting to get away from the hum drum run of the mill mind numbing questions asked in Libby of people who have far more responsibility in government than appears to be recognized. For example, Eliot Ness laid a ground work for taking down a criminal many years ago. It was imagination more than law. Why does this attorney not have the imagination to take out a killer? Or, even win it appears, at negotiations with a criminal? A second idea is to attempt to get real answers or at the very least get them to pay attention to the question. For example, "the number of deaths caused by vermiculite" is not terribly humorous or acceptably answered by "we are all going to die, make plans". Although I agree with your premise, society has always tried to limit the natural conclusions to "we are all going to die" by stopping people from "then it is ok to kill my neighbors and anyone else I like, they were headed that direction anyway". Terry

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