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Yesterday, Governor Tim Pawlenty finally signed legislation funding a study of cancer found at an abnormally high rate among Iron Range mine workers. The Governor said, "I’m pleased we were able to work with the Legislature to reach a compromise that ensured these important studies will move forward." Yes, it was all on his own terms though! He seemed more concerned with cost than the greater good.
News today from Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection that 870 tons of asbestos waste, mostly hailing from New Jersey, was dumped in the Chrin Landfill in Williams Township in 2007 - that is 300 pounds of asbestos for every man, woman, and child in Williams Township. Approximately, of course.
From Science Daily comes the news that scientists have established a mouse model for human malignant mesothelioma that will provide valuable insight into cancer development and progression along with new directions for design of therapeutic strategies.
The research, published by Cell Press in the March issue of Cancer Cell, may eventually lead to a substantially improved outlook for patients with this devastating disease.
If you would like to be active in the fight to get asbestos banned in the US, the two links below will be very useful indeed.
How to get actively involved in the fight against asbestos
Not everybody likes to be actively involved, but if you feel better doing something, then the information contained in these two documents will help you on your way.
Because most readers of this blog hail from the US, that's where I tend to look for newsworthy items. However, the following has just dropped into my inbox and, quite frankly, it horrified me:
According to the results of a British study that was released in Melbourne on Tuesday, 10% of all carpenters in Australia born before 1950 will die of mesothelioma. They will be among 30,000 Australians who will die from mesothelioma between 2000 and 2050.
Cancer research specialist Professor Julian Peto made the findings during research into the lifetime occupations of 600 mesothelioma patients and an analysis of international trends in mesothelioma mortality.
Citizens of the United States can take some comfort from the fact that the rate for Australia and the UK is more than five times that of the United States, mainly because of different construction methods.
Nevertheless, a fifth of a lot is still a lot...
From the BBC comes the news that 31 year old Ellen Paddock, who died from asbestos related cancer last July, played in the ruins of a burned out building as the ashes rained around her like snow.
The fire broke out in 1983 at the Ministry of Defence base near her home in Donnington, Shropshire. Ellen's father, Alan Bush, said the ashes even got into the young girl's mouth. The building was known to contain asbestos.
An MOD board of inquiry report will form part of the evidence at the inquest into the young woman's death. A consultant pathologist has already told the hearing that the odds of her tumour forming without the presence of asbestos were a "million to one."
Mr Bush has started legal action against the MOD.
I have followed this story with growing frustration: that the studies are urgently needed is incontrovertible; that the studies will be expensive is inevitable; where the money was to come from appeared to be indeterminate.
I'm sure I wasn't the only person to be frustrated by this, so I unashamedly cut and past the following news story from the Duluth News Tribune. Let's hope that everybody can now get on with the urgent work at hand!
A rare cancer may be ravaging Northeastern Minnesota, but Northeastern Minnesota alone shouldn’t have to foot the bill to get to the bottom of it. Anyone in the state could be struck with mesothelioma, after all, which is believed to be caused by asbestos.
Late last week, lawmakers and Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty reached a compromise to tap a statewide fund for $4.9 million to pay for a four-phase study into the disease and its causes. Earlier in the month, Rep. Tom Rukavina, DFL-Virginia, suggested using a statewide workers compensation fund for the study, an idea that immediately prompted one lawmaker to suggest an Iron Range fund would be a more appropriate choice and Pawlenty to threaten a veto. Pawlenty said withdrawing from the workers compensation fund could cost businesses.
In the end, a statewide fund appropriately will be used to cover the costs of the investigation by the University of Minnesota. The funding source is an insurance fund administered by the state Department of Commerce. Available to companies that can’t get workers compensation policies, the fund has a surplus of $41 million.
The good news is the mesothelioma study will move forward. The better news will come when the cause of this terrible cancer is found and a death toll that stands now at 58 ceases to gain any new victims.
There were conflicting reports following the boiler explosion at UW-Whitewater's power plant near Esker Dining Hall last Wednesday.
Initial reports said that there was a danger of asbestos inhalation at the Wisconsin University's dining hall and that "asbestos could contaminate the nearby residence halls because it can travel up to 75 feet and winds were blowing in the direction of buildings at the time of the explosion."
However, a later report stated that "It is unlikely that much asbestos got out of the building."
What exactly are the folk of Esker supposed to believe?
Apparently, "all of the windows in the power plan are closed off, and there is no longer any threat of contamination."
Hmm... doesn't fill you with confidence, does it?
Antipodean company, James Hardie Industries, which has been instructed to pay out $Australian 4 million to asbestos victims over the next 40 years, has devised a plan to undo its controversial move to The Netherlands. The plan includes a global restructure to dismember its Australian and New Zealand operations.
Company documents have been leaked that show Hardie would "liquidate" its Dutch parent company, and become effectively an American company registered in Delaware.
The Australian and New Zealand operations, which employ several hundred workers, would be separated from the US company, either sold off or incorporated as independent local companies
The leaked documents make no specific mention of a plan to scupper the asbestos deal, but they do talk about separating the Australian operations, transferring assets from the Dutch parent company, and options relating to liabilities - the biggest of which is the afore mentioned compensation plan.
The "Demerger Options" section mentions the "sale of ANZ operating entities", and "asbestos payment deduction and related structuring issues."
No, they wouldn't leave thousands of victims in the lurch - would they?
EVEN WHEN USING THE SERVICES OF SUPPOSED 'ASBESTOS CONSULTANTS.'
That's the only conclusion I can come to having read about ACM & Environmental Services of Indianapolis, which has been accused of committing eight serious violations during the renovation of an Indianapolis High School.
Violations were:
# No training records were available for employees who performed asbestos work including cleanup of asbestos-containing materials such as spray-on fireproofing.
# Employees performed spot abatement of spray-on fireproofing without using respirators.
# No written respiratory protection program for employees who voluntarily wore full-face, tight-fitting respirators to protect against asbestos exposure.
# Employees performed spot abatement of asbestos-containing material without establishing a regulated area.
# The wrong kind of monitoring was done when employees cleaned up spray-on fireproofing that had fallen to the floor. Sampling and analysis was not done according to approved methodology.
# Employees scraped sprayed-on fireproofing off of the ceiling and I beams without using plastic dropcloths on the floor.
# Untrained employees scraped small spots of spray-on fireproofing off of the ceiling and I beams.
# Basic information about respirators was not provided to employees who voluntarily wore respirators.
ACM & Environmental Services face a penalty of $1,500 - what price the public health?
W.R. Grace is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review pretrial rulings in the government’s case charging the company with trying to hide health risks associated with its vermiculite mine in Libby.
The basis of the argument is that, when the company operated the mine, minerals that made up the asbestos found there — winchite and richterite — weren’t regulated by the federal government. Therefore, says Grace, they can't be prosecuted for allowing these minerals to escape under the Clean Air Act.
U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy of Missoula agreed with Grace but was overturned by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Grace is now asking the Supreme Court to reverse the appeals court’s decision.
When will it ever end?
There have been concerns raised by the Cayman Island community about the release of asbestos as The Tower Building in George Town is demolished. However, as far as the government are concerned, these worries have no real foundation. A report published in May 2007 found that less than two percent of the mastic used to glue down the vinyl floor tiles inside the building contain asbestos and the asbestos fibers actually in the floor are encapsulated, says the government.
The Tower Building was built in 1982 by Tower Corporation Ltd and purchased by Government in 1984 to provide more office space for government administration.
During Hurricane Ivan in 2004 the structure suffered severe damage and has not been used since.
I had to pass on the news that I read this morning in the Sherbrooke Record; a newspaper serving the Eastern Townships of Canada.
The article bemoans the loss of work and revenue from the ailing asbestos industry due to the health problems associated with the mineral.
Quebec’s unionized asbestos workers visited their Russian comrades at the International Conference of Trade Unions on Chrysotile in Moscow. During that Conference, they adopted a Chrysotile Charter and set a strategy for 2008-2009 to defend the rights of chrysotile industry workers.
The text of the charter was approved by trade unions who represent the interests of some three million asbestos miners from Azerbaijan, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Russia Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.
So, what do you think, is this a Charter for Mesothelioma or is it a Charter for the Protection of Asbestos Workers?
The following article appears today in the Duluth News Tribune and is, I think, worth passing on word for word.
There’s no arguing the need to get to the bottom of the “death sentences” hanging over dozens of Iron Range residents, to borrow the words of House Majority Leader Tony Sertich, DFL-Chisholm.
The debate at the Minnesota Legislature last week was over who should pay for a study — never mind that Minnesotans are the ones being afflicted by mesothelioma, a rare cancer often blamed on asbestos, that the University of Minnesota is conducting the study, or that the health situation is of statewide concern.
So it would seem more than appropriate to solve the mesothelioma mystery by using state money.
And a bill introduced by Rep. Tom Rukavina, DFL-Virginia, to take the money from a statewide workers compensation fund is similarly appropriate. What could be a more literal definition of workers compensation than getting to the bottom of a disease killing workers?
A bipartisan majority of state representatives agreed, voting 88-45 in favor of Rukavina’s funding plan.
But inexplicably, Gov. Tim Pawlenty argues against it, threatening to veto the bill because it would take money from a fund filled by most Minnesota businesses, which he contends, would be a burden to the businesses.
That’s not the kind of business initiatives suggested in the editorial above; in this case, it’s a matter of life and death. Mesothelioma, which despite the inordinate number of cases on the Iron Range, can strike anyone in the state. Its symptoms are “like being smothered to death,” Rep. Bud Nores, R-Fergus Falls, whose mother died of the disease a decade ago, said in a report by the News Tribune’s Statehouse bureau (“Pawlenty threatens to veto Iron Range cancer study,” April 10).
Another fellow traveler of the Republican governor, Rep. Morrie Lanning, R-Moorhead, suggested a statewide responsibility. “We ought to do this study, and the state ought to fund the cost of this study,” adding that he did have “some questions about how [the bill’s backers] are proposing to pay for this.”
By all means ask questions and seek compromise. But to threaten a veto on an issue as serious and heart-wrenching as this when a bipartisan group of legislators have spoken is, at best, counterproductive.
If you remember, just before Christmas, this blog broke the news that asbestos containing toys were readily available in the run up to Christmas, and that one of the 'guilty' toys was a CSI Fingerprinting Kit.
Planet Toys, who manufacture the kits, instantly removed them from the market, but they also said that numerous tests had showed no signs of asbestos within them.
Now a law suit, filed in the Los Angeles County Court lawsuit, says tests showed that the kits’ fingerprint powder contained "substantial quantities of tremolite asbestos," one of the most lethal forms of the mineral.
The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization are suing the CBS Corporation, a toy maker, and several retailers over the sale of a toy based on a CBS series.
Last week, this blog reported on Minneapolis Governor Tim Pawlenty's suggestion that a series of Iron Range lung cancer studies should be funded from the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board, or IRRRB, rather than from the Workers Compensation Fund. His suggestion was greeted with dismay that escalated into a fiery debate on the floor of the Minnesota House on Thursday.
Representative Tom Rukavina, of Virginia Democrat, urged his colleagues to agree a University of Minnesota studyon asbestos-related lung cancer deaths in former taconite miners on the Iron Range.
Republican Morrie Lanning of Moorhead agreed on the need for answers but, in an echo of Pawlenty's decision, said that the funds would need to come from the workers' special fund.
Things became even more heated when Rukavina received a letter from Pawlenty stating:
"I am very disappointed that you have been unable to work with me to find an acceptable funding source; the bill in its current form will likely be vetoed." He went on to repeat his recommendation to tap into the IRRRB's Taconite Environmental Protection Fund because it has a balance of $2.7 million. He also noted the Taconite Economic Development Fund raises $12 million, normally available to mining companies to offset purchases of equipment.
In response, Rukavina contradicted the notion that the Pawlenty administration had tried to work with him, saying:
"This is the ultimate BS! And to come here with a letter today saying I'm disappointed you've been unable to work with me."
To read a full account of the meeting, click here
There is an asbestos scandal this week in the small Chautauqua County village of Cherry Creek.
Worker, Frank Watson, refused to sign off the demolition of the old schoolhouse in Cherry Creek because, he says, its filled with asbestos and the proper procedures for the situation were not followed. The Mayor wasn't prepared to listen to Watson's reasoning; he wanted the schoolhouse demolished no matter what, and demolition commenced.
Watson notified a news website and the Department of Labor about the Mayor's failure to follow procedure and, as a result, he has been dismissed from his job.
The Department of Labor is now looking into the old school's demolition and to see if proper asbestos procedures were followed. The mayor says that Watson's whistleblowing played only a small part in his dismissal.
Business Week reports that not everybody is greeting the Grace settlement with unadulterated delight.
Libby resident, Gayla Benefield, is reported as commenting, "If Grace does something voluntarily, I'm highly suspicious." She went on to say that the people of Libby "were the ones who were poisoned, as were our children and grandchildren. Our lives have been completely and totally ruined -- generations of us. Once this is done, we will have no recourse. If we get $3,000 apiece, we're stuck with that."
An astounding 225 asbestos deaths have been confirmed in Libby, and a clinic in the community, the Center for Asbestos-Related Disease, is following about 2,000 additional asbestos cases.
It was announced yesterday, Monday April 7, that W R Grace has reached an agreement to settle all current and future asbestos-related personal-injury claims made against the Company. The agreement states that the company agree to put $250 million into a trust fund that will distribute the money among people who were injured by exposure to asbestos contamination from Grace's products. This will be followed by deferred payments of $110 million per year for five years beginning in 2019 and $100 million per year for 10 years beginning in 2024.
Company spokesman Bill Corcoran said the trust will be able to file claims against $917 million in product liability insurance purchased by Grace. Other contributions to the trust, from companies previously affiliated with Grace, are $1.2 billion from Sealed Air Corp. and $100 million from Fresenius Medical Care Corp.
This agreement will lead the way clear for Grace to emerge from bankruptcy by the early 2009, which is when the trust fund will be established. Trustees will be appointed to the fund at the same time.
The affordable housing project at North Miami's Pioneer Gardens is likely to cost five times more than originally planned due to asbestos contamination.
The contamination happened because workers clearing the site inadvertently broke asbestos containing underground pipes and piled them up with the dirt. The city's community redevelopment agency (CRA) discovered the problem when a contractor began digging. It is likely to cost $900,000 to clear the site. The CRA now need to find a loan of $35 million to complete the work.
On Friday last the government gazette in South Africa published details of the ban on asbestos and all asbestos containing products. Yesterday, the trade union, Solidarity, were calling for modifications to the terms of the ban.
Solidarity's Nic Arnold said, "the ban was expected for some time before its publication and we support the regulation - but we are concerned about provision that says the SADC may still dump its asbestos waste in South Africa."
Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, the home of the Iron Range MIners, has said that he does not approve of the funding source for them.
Range lawmakers lobbied for and authored a bill that would take $4.9 million dollars out of the Worker's Compensation Fund, for the studies, but Pawlenty wants the money to come from Iron Range resources. The Range lawmakers say they will continue with their version, which is up for a vote on the floor of the House.
Along with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the North Dakota Department of Health has been involved in studies to assess the mineral erionite that is plentiful in the area.
EPA spokesman, Steve Way, warned that, "there is enough evidence that erionite may pose a health threat" and said the level of threat needs to be assessed. So far there is no evidence to suggest that the erionite found in Kildeer (North Dakota) is hazardous to health, but there is evidence of mesothelioma being caused by the mineral in Turkey and in Libby, Montana.
Erionite was first detected in gravel pits in Dunn County in 2006, and, since then, it has also been found in pits in Stark and Slope counties. EPA scientists are in the process of analyzing erionite from the Kildeer mountains in an effort to determine the risks to public health.
While the studies are ongoing, North Dakota Department of Health have issued guidelines that may help minimize health risks to the local population. These measures include: not using gravel from the exclusion zones in Dunn, Slope and Stark counties and testing gravel prior to use.
Further testing for the study will include contacting physicians to see if there is a link to exposure and illnesses, lung X-rays of individuals who are exposed to erionite, additional bulk sampling and additional activity sampling.
Following on from my story yesterday about Judge Judith Fitzgerald possibly opening the floodgates for claims against the State of Montana, it seems she's been at it again.
This time, Judge Judy has barred New Jersey environmental regulators from imposing an $800 million fine against W.R. Grace & Co. for allegedly lying about asbestos contamination in the state. In fact she has ordered the State of New Jersey to drop a 2005 lawsuit filed against W R Grace in an effort to collect the fines.
New Jersey said its moves against W.R. Grace were exempt from the Chapter 11 shield as an exercise of its police or regulatory power. State regulators said they acted to protect the public health and safety from a company that allegedly filed false reports about the extent of asbestos contamination at a site in New Jersey.
It seems that Judge Judy is not a friend of the State regulators of either NJ or Montana.
Judge Judith Fitzgerald, the presiding judge in Grace's Chapter 11 proceedings has rejected the possibility of barring lawsuits against the State of Montana by people who claim they were harmed by the asbestos at the Libby mine. It is alleged that the State failed to protect residents from the asbestos danger posed by the company's mining operations.
In last week's ruling, Judge Fitzgerald said that claims against the State of Montana do not pose a direct threat to the Grace bankruptcy proceedings. As already reported here, W R Grace and Co recently agreed to reimburse the federal government $250 million for the cleanup of the Libby asbestos contamination.
The allegations against the State of Montana claim that it was negligent in that it failed to warn State residents and mineworkers about the lethal contamination at the works.
Fitzgerald said people who claim asbestos from the mine triggered cancer, mesothelioma and other diseases can pursue action against Montana without disturbing Grace's reorganization.