Mesothelioma Medical

Mar 5 2007

The former W.R. Grace and Co. executive Mr. Alan Stringer, who had been accused of intriguing to hide asbestos-related health risks posed by a Montana mine, died of a cancer on 24th Feb at his home in Oak Harbor, Wash. He was 62.

However, his wife Donna said that the death was not related to asbestos. Stringer, who was the general manager of the W.R. Grace's vermiculite mine when it was closed in 1990, was one of the  seven former executives named in a 2005 federal charge accusing conspiracy.He was declared not guilty. The part of the case was dismissed by a U.S. District Court judge, ruling that the time limit for accusing knowing endangerment had run out.

The original native place of Stringer was Bonne Terre, Mo. He then shifted along with his family to Leadville, Colo. when he was a child. The beginning of his career was as a mining engineer for Alcoa in Suriname. He has worked for Amax in Leadville, Ottawa Silica Co. in Illinois before joining with Grace in Libby.

Stringer remained in Libby even after the mine was closed and worked on the shutdown related matters. In 1994, he went to San Juan Capistrano where he worked as a production and safety consultant for projects in North America and South Korea. He came back to Libby in 1999 as  a representative of Grace when some reports regarding asbestos-related health issues were published. Stringer worked for the hospital board when he was in town on projects for the improvement of community. He was active in the Libby Commerce Chamber as well.

It was only one month back that Les Skramstad, an important figure in the Libby asbestos debate, passed away when he was 70 due to an asbestos related cancer.

Asbestos from Grace's former vermiculite mine has been condemned for sickening and killing numerous people in Libby, Mont.