E&E News by Matthew Brown and Amy Beth Hanson
Washington, DC – BNSF Railway — controlled by billionaire Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate and found liable for spreading hazardous asbestos that killed hundreds of people in Libby is trying to convince a federal jury that a local clinic submitted hundreds of asbestos claims for people who weren’t sick, earning them lifetime government benefits. The case focuses on the Center For Asbestos Related Disease in Libby, and the health clinic’s high-profile doctor, Brad Black, who has been at the forefront of efforts to help residents of the town, which came to national prominence when it was declared a deadly Superfund site in 2000. For the full text, click here.