A woman who lived near the site of a former asbestos mine says that its manager knew of health problems among mine workers and citizens of the town while the mine was still in operation. Lerah Parker gave her testimony as part of an ongoing asbestos case brought against the company that owned the mine, W.R. Grace & Co., and five former officials with the company.

Parker and her husband bought property from Grace in the early 1990s, but were forced to move a few years later because of asbestos contamination from the mine on their land. Parker says that she was subsequently diagnosed with asbestosis.

In her testimony, Parker said that she had seen a letter sent by the manager of the mine to Grace officials which stated that he knew about “health problems associated with exposure to asbestos for both employees and their families when the mine was still in operation.” The five former officials on trial are accused of knowingly exposing workers and citizens of the town to asbestos fibers.

A physician who worked at Libby’s Center for Asbestos-Related Disease testified that he had diagnosed 1,800 people with diseases caused by asbestos during his work at the facility. Dr. Alan Whitehouse said that 50% of those that were diagnosed were citizens of the town who had no history of occupational asbestos exposure. Dr. Whitehouse testified that Libby also has the nation’s highest rate of mesothelioma, a deadly form of cancer caused by asbestos.