Press Release
 

Annual "Pig Book" Reveals Conflict of Interest

CAGW Founder's Conflict Highlighted

WASHINGTON D.C. — A taxpayer watchdog group's criticism of an air quality study in Libby, MT is a "blatant conflict of interest" and does very little to enhance the group's credibility, according to the chair of the national Committee to Protect Mesothelioma Victims (CPMV).

"While we applaud all efforts to expose government waste," CPMV chairperson Susan Vento said, "we find the Citizens Against Government Waste annual 'Pig Book' highlights a blatant conflict of interest with its inclusion of an air quality study in Libby, Montana."

"It's a shame to see such a formerly-respected group such as Citizens Against Government Waste twisted to such self-dealing purposes as something like this," Vento noted. "The organization deserves to be called on this one."

Vento explained that this week's release of the group's 2006 Congressional Pig Book Summary called attention to a $1 million air quality improvement program in Lincoln County, MT, home of the asbestos-producing W.R. Grace vermiculite mine in the county's town of Libby. J. Peter Grace is listed as co-founder of Citizens Against Government Waste and also served as W.R. Grace's CEO and chairman.

The U.S. Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have indicted W.R. Grace and seven current and former executives for knowingly endangering residents of Libby and concealing information about the health effects of its mining operations. Their trial is scheduled for next September. The government's indictment revealed that approximately 1,200 residents of the Libby area have been identified as suffering from some kind of asbestos-related abnormality.

The mine and its effects on Libby as well as on dozens of communities home to W.R. Grace processing plants have received much attention on Capitol Hill in hearings and floor debates surrounding the Grace-supported FAIR Act (Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution). The proposed legislation, opposed by every major asbestos victims group, was defeated last month on a procedural vote in the U.S. Senate; the bill would take asbestos cases out of the judicial system, placing them into a Department of Labor-administered $140-billion trust fund. Bill sponsors are seeking another vote on the FAIR Act later this year.

"Just yesterday, (Thursday, April 6), Citizens Against Government Waste urged Congress to pass the FAIR Act; these guys sure have a lot of nerve to be questioning an air quality project in Libby after poisoning its residents for nearly 30 years," concluded Vento.

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The Committee to Protect Mesothelioma Victims (CPMV) is an organization founded by asbestos victims and their families and friends. CPMV works to raise awareness on national asbestos issues and ensure that victims' rights are properly represented and protected on both a local and national level. For more information, www.asbestostruth.org.