There have been no reported job-related deaths at any other poultry company in 1999. But that came only after Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch filed a lawsuit against U.S. Bank, alleging it violated the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act and engaged in consumer fraud and deceptive advertising. At least another 375 have been diagnosed with the fatal disease. For three decades, Grace mined enormous deposits of vermiculite in the earth of nearby Zonolite Mountain. Under the vermiculite are millions of tons of tremolite, a rare and exceedingly toxic form of asbestos.
Community residents say Grace for years told residents and workers that the dust was harmless.
When my father was a young man they told him, 'You can't eat enough of that stuff. It won't bother you. Now Vinion, who never worked as a miner, is himself dying from asbestos-related disease. Russell Mokhiber is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Corporate Crime Reporter. Robert Weissman is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Multinational Monitor.