AGUA FRIA, Ariz. - A research geologist has announced that there is no asbestos associated with mining in the Agua Fria River bed. Residents of the area had expressed concerns that sand and gravel mines at the river bed might be exposing the community to a hazard that has turned a small Libby, Montana town into one of the nation’s most well-known mesothelioma hot spots.

Mimi Diaz, a geologist with the Arizona Geological Survey, addressed the community’s concerns at a meeting of the Maricopa County Mining District Recommendation Committee.

Diaz explained that there are six kinds of minerals that fall into the category of asbestos, and not all cause lung cancer and mesothelioma. She stated flatly that there is no asbestos in the Agua Fria basin.

A Surprise resident who has recently ended a term on the advisory board said that residents are concerned that the mining companies may be releasing asbestos into the air by crushing used concrete that contains asbestos.

That concern can be put to rest, based on Diaz’ assurance that the Agua Fria river basin is clean. When companies make concrete, she said, they seldom transport it to a building site that is more than 20 miles away because of the trucking expense. Thus, if the concrete came from the Agua Fria, it should be clean as there is no asbestos in the river basin.

Board Chairman Frank Mendola of Cemex supported Diaz’ contention. He stated that used concrete is most likely clean because it is shipped locally.

There are more than 20 different mining companies along the Agua Fria.

Diaz went on to state that the people who have become ill with asbestos related diseases are those who had occupational exposure to it. “They are the ones who are sick,” she said. “Not the ones who drive by it or live by it.”

According to Diaz, asbestos has to be less than 5 microns in diameter to do damage to a person’s lungs. A person would need to breathe in billions of asbestos particles to get sick, she explained, and pointed out that it takes 20 years for asbestos to take effect.

There are cases, like the town of Libby, where many of those who are ill had no occupational exposure to the toxic asbestos fibers. However, the Libby mine operations were literally pumping asbestos fibers into the air at an incredible density. The W.R. Grace & Co., who owned the mine, was aware of the asbestos danger, according to criminal charges filed against several officers and former officers of the company.

In addition, there are concerns about an unusually high rate of mesothelioma diagnoses in the Iron Range of Minnesota, where the state is about to launch a study to learn whether or not there is asbestos contamination in the taconite mined in the area.

Diaz said Arizona ranked 31st out of 50 states for asbestos-related deaths, according to 2004 data.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 11th, 2008 at 5:25 pm and is filed under Jobsite Exposure. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. Responses are currently closed, but you trackback from your own site.