HELENA, Mont. (AP) — BNSF Railway attorneys are expected to argue before jurors Friday that the railroad should not be held liable for the lung cancer deaths of two former residents of an asbestos-contaminated Montana town, one of the deadliest sites in the federal Superfund pollution program.
Attorneys for the company say the corporate predecessors of the railroad, owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate, didn’t know the vermiculite they hauled over decades from a nearby mine was filled with hazardous microscopic asbestos fibers.
The case in federal civil court over the two deaths is the first of numerous lawsuits against the Texas-based railroad corporation to reach trial over its past operations in Libby, Montana. Current and former residents of the small town near the U.S.-Canada border want BNSF held accountable for its alleged role in asbestos exposure that health officials say has killed several hundred people and sickened thousands.
Election 2024: Biden and Trump bypassed the Commission on Presidential Debates
House Republicans will turn to K
Mexico tightens travel rules on Peruvians in a show of visa diplomacy to slow migration to US
TikToker reveals the 'dystopian hack' that snuck her résumé past AI bots and landed her three jobs
Brazil replaces injured goalkeeper Ederson in Copa America squad
Sports host Katie Nolan questions if Ben Affleck 'was on drugs' during Tom Brady roast
Travis Kelce cast in FX's 'American Horror Story: Grotesquerie'
A timeline of the collapse at FTX
Why US Catholics are planning pilgrimages in communities across the nation
Tiger Woods to feature at PGA Championship along with 16 LIV golfers
Minnesota Uber and Lyft driver pay package beats deadline to win approval in Legislature
High school students, frustrated by lack of climate education, press for change