-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A jury Friday acquitted W.R. Grace & Company and three of its former executives of having knowingly exposed mine workers and residents of Libby , Montana , to asbestos . The W.R. Grace plant in Libby , Montana , in an undated photograph . `` We at Grace are gratified by today 's verdict and thank the men and women of the jury who were open to hearing the facts , '' said Fred Festa , chairman , president and CEO of the company in a written statement . `` We always believed that Grace and its former executives had acted properly and that a jury would come to the same conclusion when confronted with the evidence . '' Festa said that during the time Grace owned and operated a vermiculite mine in Libby , `` the company worked hard to keep the operations in compliance with the laws and standards of the day . '' The jury began deliberating Thursday and returned its verdict Friday morning . The Department of Justice 's response to the verdict , which came after a three-month trial , was measured . `` The jury has spoken , and we thank them for their service , '' said a written statement issued by the office of public affairs . `` We are refraining from further comment at this juncture because one individual awaits trial in connection with this case . '' Prosecutors plan to try another executive separately . Asked if the Justice Department plans to appeal , department spokesman Andrew Ames said , `` I would n't want to comment on that . '' Federal prosecutors had accused the mining company and its executives of exposing Libby 's 100,000 residents to asbestos for decades , resulting in more than 200 deaths and 1,000 illnesses . The product covered patches of grass , dusted the tops of cars and drifted through the air in a hazy smoke that became a part of residents ' daily lives . `` There 's never been a case where so many people were sickened or killed by environmental crime , '' said David Uhlmann in an April interview . He helped spearhead the case when he was the Justice Department 's top prosecutor of environmental crimes before stepping down in 2007 . During the trial , those who lost loved ones testified at the federal courthouse in Missoula , about 130 miles southeast of Libby , that residents had been kept in the dark about the dangers . Until 1990 , W.R. Grace & Company operated a mine in Libby that produced vermiculite , a substance used in all sorts of products , from insulation to fertilizers . The vermiculite was contaminated with tremolite asbestos -- linked to numerous illnesses including mesothelioma , a cancer that can attack the lining of the lungs , abdomen or heart . The government 's indictment alleged that W.R. Grace conspired to `` knowingly release '' the asbestos . It said the company tried to hide the dangers from employees and residents , leaving them `` in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury . '' `` It was a purpose of the conspiracy to conceal and misrepresent the hazardous nature of the tremolite asbestos contaminated vermiculite , thereby enriching defendants and others , '' the indictment read . The indictment also said W.R. Grace tried to `` defraud the United States and others by impairing , impeding , and frustrating '' the Environmental Protection Agency and other government agencies once they launched an investigation in 1999 . The 10-count indictment included charges of wire fraud and obstruction of justice . Had it been convicted , the company could have faced criminal fines of up to $ 280 million , which is twice the value of its profits from the mine . Grace executives , who were named as defendants , could have faced prison time . The company did not deny that asbestos emanated from its plant . Nor did it question that some people had been sickened and killed , though a definitive number of deaths linked to the vermiculite plant probably will never be known . But W.R. Grace denied any kind of conspiracy . In fact , the company said , it acted responsibly and took appropriate steps . It said it had voluntarily paid millions of dollars in medical bills for 900 Libby residents . In the courtroom , defense attorneys noted that the asbestos problem dates back to about 1920 , long before W.R. Grace took over the mine in 1963 . The attorneys said that , as information about the asbestos came to light , the company took numerous steps to mitigate the dangers and were open about it . Defense attorney David Bernick said he was not surprised by the verdict . `` The evidence showed that what was going on internally with the company was anything but conspiratorial , '' he told said . `` It was responsible . '' However , some townspeople did not share Bernick 's view . `` I do n't see how they could have gotten out of it , '' said Steven Schnetter , who worked at the mine for 17 years until it closed in 1990 . Shortly afterward , Schnetter was diagnosed with asbestosis , a lung disease caused by exposure to asbestos fibers . The 60-year-old retiree said he told his managers in the late 1980s that he was concerned to find that tremolite is a form of asbestos . `` They said , ` Oh , yeah , but it 's the short-fiber type that wo n't hurt you , ' '' he said . Schnetter settled with the company for a `` small amount , '' he told CNN Friday in a telephone interview . When asked about his frequent coughing , he said , `` I do that all the time . ... My lungs wo n't expand right . ''