A Wilmington, Del. bankruptcy judge has rejected a bid for an injunction barring lawsuits against the state of Montana by people who claim they were harmed by asbestos from the Libby, Mont. vermiculite mine owned and operated by W.R. Grace and Co.

According to an article penned by the Associated Press, Judge Judith Fitzgerald proclaimed that Montana residents could proceed with lawsuits against their state for alleged failure to protect them from dangerous asbestos, found in the vermiculite that was mined in the small town of Libby. Thus far, hundreds of Grace employees and Libby residents have already died of asbestos-related diseases and several hundred more are sick from exposure to the toxic mineral. Civil lawsuits against Grace were halted in 2001 when the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Allegations against the state of Montana include negligence and failure to warn residents and mineworkers about allegedly lethal contamination at the mining operation, which ran until 1990, the article points out. Fitzgerald said lawsuits against Montana over its alleged failures in policing the Grace mines don’t present a direct threat to the company’s bankruptcy proceedings.

According to the article, Fitzgerald first ruled against Montana and Grace last year on the question of whether the state could shelter behind the company’s bankruptcy, but stayed her ruling while entertaining a request to reconsider the decision. The ruling filed Monday denied motions from Grace and Montana to reconsider.

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