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Toledo--Owen Corning’s plan to exist bankruptcy after six years of Chapter 11 status calls for reorganization including paying asbestos-injury victims $5.2 billion and creditors $2.5 billion. Owen Corning, the third largest corporation in Toledo filed for bankruptcy in 2006 after mounting asbestos liability claims. The majority of shareholders, bond holders, and creditors voted for the company to exit bankruptcy. (Toledo)
Asbestos Removed from Capitol Hill Tunnel by Michael Monheit, Esq.
On September 20, 2006 licensed asbestos abatement workers were scheduled to remove about 1,000 bags of asbestos-containing materials from the Capitol tunnel -- a site which has generated much controversy in regards to workers and asbestos exposure.
Smaller amounts of asbestos began to be removed earlier in the year, shortly after it was discovered that 10 men who work in the tunnels were exposed to what would be considered dangerously high levels of asbestos. According to an article in The Hill, earlier this year three senators introduced and passed an amendment to the emergency supplemental spending bill that would provide nearly $28 million in federal funds to begin to repair the infrastructure. It has been estimated that the abatement work and repair of the tunnels may cost as much as $200 million.
Lawmakers have been extremely irate that Capitol workers have suffered ongoing exposure to this toxic material, which is known to cause such lung diseases as asbestosis and mesothelioma, an aggressive form of cancer which carries little chance of long-term survival. A complaint filed with OSHA in February prompted the current clean-up, which could continue for months.
For more information on this, see: http://www.mesotheliomasos.com/newsCapitolremoval.php
About the Author: Monheit Law, Anapol Schwartz Weiss Cohan Feldman & Smalley, Michael Monheit Esq., represent victims of occupational exposure to toxic substances such as Asbestos.
An official committee has acknowledged that asbestos is taking its toll on the ship-breakers in Alang, Gujarat. The committee is aware that what's needed are sweeping reforms in working conditions and detailed guidelines for dismantling ships and handling the waste. The report says that almost one in six workers (16 percent of the workforce that handles asbestos) could be suffering from an early stage of asbestosis, an irreversible lung condition that could lead to lung cancer.
According to the report, experts have put forth a detailed road map for upgrading the Alang shipyard operations and have highlighted alarming facts related to exposure to asbestos. Until now, India's government has denied any such link.
Normally, it takes more than 10 years for full-blown asbestosis to develop but here its onset was hastened with higher levels of exposure. In ships brought for breaking, free asbestos is usually present as thermal insulation of boilers and floor tiles. When this asbestos is removed, the particles become air-borne and attack the lungs. (India Express)
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-liwtc274867706aug27,0,251949.story?track=rss
Samples of dust from Ground Zero were sent to two independent labs. The lab results showed high levels of fiberglass and dangerours pulverized asbestos that had been exposed to extraordinary heat
Here we are, five years later, and only now will we see the true the cost of mysterious illnesses, shortened careers, lost lives, and a class action lawsuit filed by 7,000 people.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, New Yorkers were told that the air at Ground Zero was safe. Now we know that was untrue. Perhaps even a big lie. According to a top city health department official who wrote a three-page memo, there were critical environmental issues related to the disaster and these have not been addressed.
The city's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) conducted tests for asbestos. It was known thenthat there were dangerously high levels of the fibers, but did not reveal those test results to the public. We think that at best, this was a grossly negligent act, and perhaps intentional, perhaps motivated by political issues, and certainly should be punishable by a lawsuit for punitive damages.
The results were later disclosed by the state in response to a Freedom of Information request.
15 years is just too long. But that is how long it took WR Grace to clean up 6500 tons of asbestos poisoned soil. And the job is still not done.
According to the EPA, contractors for W. R. Grace would finally begin moving equipment to the former factory site in Hamilton, N.J., this week in anticipation of the removal of some 6,500 tons of asbestos tainted soil that still remains.
Read more about this asbestos removal problem.