Barretts Minerals Creditors Fight Mine Sale Over Cancer Risk (1)

Barretts Minerals Inc.'s junior creditors are asking a bankruptcy court to prevent the sale of a talc mine because, they alleged, continued operation could cause unnecessary asbestos exposure.

Barretts is among a group of companies, including Johnson & Johnson, aiming to resolve talc-related liabilities through bankruptcy courts. Barretts, owned by Mineral Technologies Inc., filed for Chapter 11 protection in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas in October amid hundreds of talc-related liabilities over its cosmetic products and individuals working in the mine.

The seven-member unsecured creditors committee asked the court to stop the sale Tuesday ...