Colorado Attorney General ,John Suthers, announced yesterday that the Statewide Grand Jury had indicted Richard Oliver on four felony charges involving asbestos removal and disposal. The charges include Causing or Contributing to a Hazardous Waste Incident, Knowing Endangerment, and Bribery of a Witness.

The indictment alleges that between January 1, 2008, and May 1, 2008, Oliver's company, Kingston Properties LLC, engaged in the illegal removal and dumping of materials containing asbestos during the renovation of several properties. This despite the fact that Oliver was advised of the possible presence of asbestos at the properties by a State-trained and certified contractor who gave him a bid for the work in March of 2008.

Because he was in possession of such knowledge, it is alleged that Oliver knowingly endangered at least three employees by exposing them to asbestos without their knowledge, failed to provide any warnings of the potential risks of the work, and failed to provide them with proper protection.

In response to the contractor's report, Oliver is alleged to have said that he would "hire a bunch of Mexicans" to do the removal for less.

Oliver is also accused in the indictment of offering a monetary bribe to one of the alleged victims in return for providing altered testimony to the Statewide Grand Jury that would have shifted blame for the illegal activity to the contractor who filed the complaint.

Oliver faces a possible sentence of 18 years in prison if convicted on all counts. His employees, of course, face the potential of a far stiffer sentence.

Workers Compensation

Posted by Dianne Sandland at 06:15 AM | Permalink

This is the advice from the well-respected British Lung Foundation (BLF), which has asked those coping with the disease, or those close to them, to complete an online survey so they can receive maximum support.

The call has been backed by the Mesothelioma Research Fund, with one Mesothelioma widow saying, "this survey is an excellent idea, because it will allow the BLF to push for new legislation, as well as offering practical help to sufferers in South Tyneside, which is one of the worst areas in the country for the disease, because of our history of shipbuilding and heavy industry."

British readers should visit the BLF website to complete the survey.

Posted by Dianne Sandland at 06:00 AM | Permalink

Ohio State University scientists believe they are the first in the world to study the molecular underpinnings of cancer by probing individual bonds between an asbestos fiber and human cells. The hope is that the findings could aid in drug development for asbestos-related illnesses, including mesothelioma.

Thus far the study has been concentrated on the crocidolite form of asbestos, this is the form commonly known as blue asbestos, and is part of the amphibole group , which were banned in most of the Western world by the middle of the 1980s. Prior to the ban, amphiboles were used in in the manufacture and application of ceiling tiles and thermal insulation.

Eventually the scientists hope to study how other forms of asbestos (there are six in all) interact with certain proteins on cell surfaces. Some forms of asbestos can dissolve in the lungs if they are inhaled, but others are believed to essentially 'stick' to cells, especially at high concentrations. They eventually cause lung diseases.

Science Daily

Posted by Dianne Sandland at 04:46 AM | Permalink

The Vermont State Health Department says it made an error in a recent report that pointed to higher cancer rates in towns surrounding an old asbestos mine in northern Vermont. But it says the study still shows higher rates of another asbestos-related disease.

The department said it re-examined the data used in the study. And it's no longer saying that people living near the mine had a higher rate of lung cancer.

Health Commissioner Doctor Wendy Davis says the error occurred because researchers mistakenly included the city of Newport in the data. She said the researchers should have excluded Newport City from the communities that are within a 10 mile radius of the mine.

Warnings about the asbestos are not retracted, however, because there are increased rates of asbestosis in the area, and the death rate is higher than for surrounding areas.

The advice from Dr Davis is is not to spend time on the mine site, nor to not undertake recreational activities on the site.

VPR News

Posted by Dianne Sandland at 08:12 AM | Permalink

The Army said that Fort Bragg paratroopers assigned to clean a barracks storage room were exposed unknowingly to asbestos, but a soldier's father said that the military should have known about the material.

Medical tests showed that up to 10 soldiers in the 82nd Airborne Division were exposed to asbestos but not at dangerous levels, a division spokesman, Master Sgt Thomas Clementson, said yesterday.

Officials said that the exposure occurred when soldiers in the 1st Brigade Combat team scraped floor tiles and carried out debris during the past three weeks.

Division surgeon Lt Col. Bryan Sleigh said that the Army will monitor the health of the soldiers once a year for five years and every five years thereafter.

Air testing showed no hazardous asbestos levels in the room.

WRAL.com

Posted by Dianne Sandland at 09:14 AM | Permalink

In the final days of the Bush administration there is, apparently, a push to complete a new rule that would make it much more difficult for the government to regulate occupational toxic substances and hazardous chemicals. President-elect Barack Obama is strenuously opposed to the proposed legislation, which is strongly supported by business groups.

The rule states that, in assessing the risk from a particular substance, US government agencies should gather and analyse 'industry-by-industry evidence' of employees' exposure during their working lives. This would add an extra step to the already lengthy process of developing health protecting standards for workers.

This proposal is one of twenty or so contentious rules the Bush administration is planning to issue in its final weeks.

International Herald Tribune

Posted by Dianne Sandland at 08:07 AM | Permalink

According to BHP Billiton, Australia's largest company, which last year recorded a net profit of 17.7 billion Australian dollars, Australian asbestos laws are too tough.

The company claims that the SA Dust Diseases Act 2005 is unfairly slanted against employers such as itself, facing compensation claims. The SA legislation, passed in January, 2006, stipulates that companies are presumed to have known the dangers of asbestos from 1971 onwards, and allows a court to impose 'exemplary damages' over and above normal compensation claims if it finds that an employer knew of the dangers of asbestos but failed to protect its employees.

It might be relevant to the company's cries of 'not fair' that thousands of it's workers were exposed to lethal asbestos fibers at BHP's former Whyalla shipyards, which closed down in 1978.

Adelaide Now

Posted by Dianne Sandland at 08:07 AM | Permalink

Associated Press reports that asbestos company, W R Grace, are to pay out up to $140 million in its Zonolite attic insulation case.

The company will pay

* $30 million cash into a trust fund
* an additional $30 million cash after three years
* make up to 10 additional annual payments of $8 million if certain conditions are met

Zonolite, a loose-fill vermiculite product that can contain naturally occurring asbestos, was used in millions of homes throughout the US and Canada. Much the vermiculite used in the product was mined in Libby, Montana; the mine has been linked to over 200 deaths in the area.

The payments will be backed by 50.1 percent of W.R. Grace's stock.

AP

Posted by Dianne Sandland at 10:39 AM | Permalink

In their search for an effective mesothelioma treatment, researchers at an Australian hospital tested Imiquimod, a cream applied to the skin of skin cancer sufferers.

In the tests, the Imiquimod was applied to laboratory mice who had advanced meso tumors, together with antiCD40, an established cancer medication. Approximately 50% of the mice receiving the combination therapy were 'cured.'

Imiquimod, marketed under the names of Aldara or Beselna, was approved by the FDA in 1997 and has long been used to treat certain types of skin cancer.

During treatment there are a number of unpleasant side effects, including blisters and blackened skin, however, these usually resolve on completion of treatment.

AntiCD40 is an anti-cancer drug that, when injected into lab mice, has been shown to reduce cancerous tumors.

Professor Steve Broomfield of the University of WA in Australia stated that the Imiquimod and antiCD40 duo could, at the very least, 'double survival times' for mesothelioma patients.

Perth Now

Posted by Dianne Sandland at 02:29 AM | Permalink