Calif. Jury Rejects Claims Against Owner of Parcel That Housed Asbestos Mining Operation

LOS ANGELES — Jurors have returned a defense verdict in a case brought by a California man who claimed that a contributing cause of his mesothelioma was asbestos released into the environment from a mining and milling operation situated miles from his home.

The Los Angeles County Superior Court jury returned the verdict Oct. 6, absolving the owner of the property where the mine was located of liability for plaintiff Anthony Marquez’s asbestos-related injury.

Marquez claimed that he was exposed to asbestos while living in Coalinga, Calif., between 1959 and 1972. During that time, Johns-Manville operated a mine and …