Archive for April, 2008

W.R. Grace & Co. has asked the United States Supreme Court to hear an appeal in a criminal case against the specialty chemical company that once mined asbestos-contaminated vermiculite in the town of Libby, Montana.

W.R. Grace & Co. manufactured asbestos-containing products from 1938 through to the 1970s. The company also owned and operated a vermiculite mine in Libby that was contaminated with asbestos. Millions of homes throughout the country contain Zonolite, an insulation product containing the contaminated vermiculite, and thousands of Libby residents have developed asbestos-related diseases such as mesothelioma and asbestosis as a result of working in or living near the mine.

After settling its current and future asbestos-related claims with the creation of a $3 billion trust fund, the company, as well as six of its former executives, still faces criminal charges relating to the contamination of Libby.

Under the terms of the recently-created settlement, W. R. Grace will pay up to $1.8 billion into the trust fund initially. An additional $1.55 billion will be paid into the fund between 2019 and 2034.

The trust fund is to be further supplemented by the addition of W.R. Grace & Co. stock options worth tens of millions of dollars, which will be available at a reduced price relative to current market value. The chemical company also agreed that its remaining insurance coverage would also be added to the fund.

The creation of the settlement trust fund is one more move that will allow the company to eventually emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The criminal charges relate to the company’s activities in Libby that involved the release of asbestos that injured or killed more than one thousand residents of the town. The company may face fines of up to $280 million, and the individuals may face prison terms of up to fifteen years, if convicted.

The company has also been charged with interfering with government clean-up efforts in the town.

In its appeal, W.R. Grace asked the high court to overturn a ruling made by a lower court. The ruling adopted a government definition of asbestos developed under the federal Clean Air Act.

The former vermiculite-mining company claims that according to the government definition, only 5% of the material is released in Libby is applicable to the criminal charges in the case.

Mehoopany, Wyoming – The demolition of an old school building in Mehoopany Township, Wyoming, has been halted due to the discovery of asbestos, and some resulting financial problems that might make demolition more expensive than the township can readily afford.

During the demolition project, the building was inspected by state Department of Environmental Protection representatives. As the inspection was carried out, asbestos was discovered in a survey of the old school building.

Luckily, only a small amount of asbestos was found: in some tiles present in the basement of the building. The tiles were quickly removed and safely disposed of, allowing the demolition work to resume.

However, the delay had already lasted an entire month while the state’s hazardous material surveys and tests were being carried out on the old school building.

The township of Mehoopany is now concerned because the contractor hired to carry out the work, Sechrist Contracting of Tunkhannock, wants to charge more for completing the project.

Supervisor Frank Scholz says the extra money is needed because Sechrist had been dumping demolition waste at a location that is not equipped to handle asbestos waste.

Due to the possibility of asbestos contamination, Sechrist must dispose of all debris at an approved landfill in order to obtain a demolition permit.

That means the cost of demolition will increase from $7,000 to $8,000, and the township and the demolition company are now arguing over who should pay the extra money.

Sechrist has asked the town to cover the costs, but Supervisor Frank Scholz and other supervisors believe that “Sechrist has to suck it up and pay the cost.” Scholz says that “If he’d [Sechrist] have gotten a demolition permit right off the bat, he’d have known about the licensed landfill. He’d have known about the asbestos.” The supervisors believe that Sechrist should be held to the original bid of $18,250 that was accepted in December 2007.

The supervisors have allowed Sechrist some extra time to complete the project, because DEP surveying and testing had delayed work on the site for approximately one month. They have agreed to allot an extra month for completing the project, pushing the completion date to the end of July.

However, the dispute over who will pay the extra money for asbestos waste disposal may delay work on the project even further.

Wayne County, Ohio – An asbestos-removal company based in Toledo, Ohio, was fined a total of $12,600 for the mishandling of hazardous materials.

The asbestos-removal company is Total Environmental Services. According to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, the company failed to comply with the state’s asbestos emission control regulations during an asbestos abatement project carried out in 2006.

Most states have laws pertaining to the safe removal, containment, and disposal of asbestos-containing construction materials and waste.

Ohio is no exception: there are certain safety-enhancing practices that must be carried out by asbestos abatement and removal companies that are working with the toxin. Failure to comply with the laws can result in fines, as is the case for Total Environmental Services, and may even result in jail time depending on the circumstances and the severity of the violations.

Safe removal of asbestos includes a requirement to wet asbestos-containing materials during the process of removal and containment. Wetting the materials greatly limits the potential for inhalable asbestos fibers becoming airborne.

In its dry state, when asbestos is disturbed it can break up into tiny fibers that have a much higher chance of becoming airborne. The health risks of airborne asbestos include the development of a cancer called mesothelioma, which can develop in the lining of the lungs after exposure to inhalable asbestos fibers.

According to the EPA, “The company [Total Environmental Services] failed to adequately wet asbestos-containing material that had been stripped from Gourley Hall at Ohio State University’s Agricultural Research and Development Center in Wooster. The company also neglected to wet the asbestos-containing waste while collecting and bagging it for disposal.”

Inspectors for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency discovered and documented the violations in February of 2006. The violations were discovered when inspectors examined disposal bags containing asbestos waste at the Gourley Hall site. The company corrected the problem immediately by wetting the contents of the disposal bags, but the violations still stand.

In its April 4 press release about the incident and the fines, the Ohio EPA indicated that the fine money would contribute to several different environmental funds. The $12,600 that Total Environmental Services must pay includes $2,520 to be paid to the Ohio EPA’s clean diesel school bus program, $5,040 for the Ohio Environmental Education Fund, and $5040 to help administer the Ohio EPA’s air pollution control programs.

When Brandon Benoit suffered a football injury last year, he never dreamed that getting treated for that injury could change his life—and perhaps save it.

When Benoit was treated for his injuries at White River Medical Center, doctors discovered a build-up of fluid in his abdomen. Doctors made a preliminary diagnosis of peritoneal mesothelioma, which was confirmed by doctors at M.D. Anderson Hospital in Houston, Texas. “If I hadn’t have gotten hurt, then I wouldn’t have known [about the cancer], he said.

Brandon Benoit and wife Nancy hope that by telling their story, they can encourage awareness of mesothelioma and highlight the importance of early detection of the cancer, which is caused by exposure to asbestos.

The Benoits say that it’s important for people to ask about mesothelioma testing in particular because the symptoms are not specific to mesothelioma, and it is easy for the cancer to be misdiagnosed. Symptoms of mesothelioma may include chest pain, difficulty when breathing, fever, cough, and sudden weight loss or gain.

One reason that symptoms are often overlooked is because mesothelioma has a long latency period. After exposure to asbestos the cancer may not develop for twenty to forty years, or even longer.

Brandon Benoit is just 35 years old—and mesothelioma is much more commonly seen in adults aged between 50 and 70, due to the long latency period and the fact that asbestos use has been largely discontinued in most industries. Brandon believes he may have been exposed to asbestos before he was five years old.

Peritoneal mesothelioma is a rare form of a cancer that is itself very rare. Around three thousand cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed in America each year, and of those somewhere between 10% and 20% are peritoneal. Very few specialists have significant knowledge of this rare type of mesothelioma, making treatment problematic.

However, Brandon and Nancy are both hopeful, thanks to the early detection of the cancer. Early detection of mesothelioma is rare, but can make a substantial difference in prognosis. Brandon says, “For me, I know that it was a shock when [the doctors] started talking about cancer, but once it settled in, I knew I would have to beat this.”

Brandon Benoit’s treatment begins with surgery at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. After a recovery period of several weeks, he will receive several sessions of chemotherapy over the course of five months.

Brandon and Nancy Benoit are expecting their first child one month after Brandon’s last surgery, in November.

Milford, Connecticut – Many schools are closed this week for Spring Break, and some are taking advantage of the down time to bring contractors in for asbestos removal. In Milford, Connecticut, two schools are doing just that, hoping to get a jump-start on renovations planned for the summer.

Asbestos problems in schools are often in the news. Many such stories appear when a school is carrying out asbestos abatement during the semester, when kids are in the school. One such incident occurred at another Connecticut school last month. Asbestos was discovered at Bethel High during abatement and renovations, and the school was closed for several days while testing was carried out.

Being able to carry out abatement during a vacation week is a big advantage for schools, which must be able to ensure that removal of asbestos doesn’t pose any dangers to children and teachers. The Bethel High incident illustrates how difficult a problem this can be: the incident was caused by the breakage of a table that had not been known to contain asbestos until the incident occurred.

For officials at Jonathan Law and Foran High Schools, getting the abatement work done during a vacation week is even more important, because renovations are planned at both schools during summer vacation, and getting the asbestos removal done now allows for more time later.

Asbestos and lead abatement at the schools will cost an estimated $1.2 million. The renovations, which will cost around $6 million, are badly needed, says Phillip Russell, Deputy Superintendent of Operations. “Everything’s old—the plumbing, the burners. We have to change out the plumbing before it starts leaking.”

Jonathan Law was built in 1961 and Foran High School in 1973. The schools have been updated little since then, and since those decades were part of the peak period of asbestos use in America, they both need considerable abatement work done.

In schools, asbestos was used as thermal and acoustical insulation, as well as a flame and fire retardant. The toxic substance may be in walls, ceilings, and floors, around furnaces, boilers, and pipes, and in tables, burner pads, and other equipment in science laboratories.

Contractors working in Jonathan Law and Foran High Schools this week hope to finish the work by Thursday. Once the work has been completed, air samples will be taken and tested to make sure it’s safe for students to come back to school.

Madison County, Illinois – So far in 2008, asbestos-related lawsuits make up more than half of all the major civil cases filed in Madison County Circuit Court.

On April 10, number 165 was filed, on behalf of a deceased Virginia man who died from mesothelioma. This makes the 300th civil suit, and the 165th asbestos-related suit seeking damages of $50,000 or more this year.

According to this new lawsuit, the deceased, William Pierce, was employed as a welder and assembly line worker between 1940 and 1984.

The estate of the deceased claims he was exposed to asbestos fibers during the course of his employment and during home automotive repairs. The suit names ten defendants, including the Atlas Asbestos Company, Bell Asbestos Mines, Bondex International, Foseco, Georgia-Pacific, John Crane, Pneumo Abex, RPM International, RPM Inc., and T.H. Agriculture & Nutrition.

The estate claims that the defendants knew or should have known of the dangers of asbestos and negligently failed to provide workers with hygiene and safety information to prevent exposure.

The estate of William Pierce claims that the exposure prevented him from working and also caused physical and mental suffering. The suit is seeking at least $200,000 in damages.

In Madison County, Illinois, lawsuits like these are almost commonplace. With 165 filed already this year, that’s an average of more than one per day. Furthermore, a large number of the suits are filed by out-of-state plaintiffs.

The reason this occurs is that Madison County, Illinois (and other locations such as Kanawha County in West Virginia) has developed something of a reputation for finding in favor of the plaintiff in lawsuits such as these. Overall, judges in Madison County are more likely to hold corporations accountable for negligent actions such as those alleged in asbestos-related lawsuits.

And the law allows anyone from any part of the country to file a lawsuit in any other part of the country providing they can prove that one party (either a plaintiff or a defendant) has some connection to the state where the suit has been filed.

That means, as long as a plaintiff can establish a link to Madison County, they can file their case there. Given that many of these large asbestos companies are multi-state entities, establishing such a link is not usually difficult. The end result is a large number of asbestos-related cases being filed in likely locations such as Madison County, Illinois.

O’Fallon, Missouri – Plans to redevelop the site of a former trailer park into an eco-friendly housing redevelopment will now go ahead, thanks to last minute changes to a tax abatement deal.

The development company, Highland Homes, plans to build a $38.5 million housing and retail complex on the polluted O’Fallon, Missouri site. The development will be called Highland Terrace.

Once completed, Highland Terrace will incorporate eco-friendly design features, such as the use of recycled building materials and energy-saving appliances, heating, and lighting.

The housing complex, when finished, will include around 240 condos, each at an average cost of $155,000. A strip of fifteen retail stores will also be added.

The twenty acre proposed development site, which had accommodated a trailer park from the 1960s until 2007, is currently vacant.

During the demolition workers discovered an illegal dumping ground that contained hypodermic needles, asbestos waste, broken appliances, car parts, and other waste.

The results of an environmental study that was carried out suggest there is approximately 34,000 tons of asbestos-containing waste present on the site, all of which must be removed, sealed according to all applicable regulations, and then disposed of at a site that is equipped to deal with asbestos waste safely.

Cleaning up the site, which is contaminated with asbestos and other pollutants, will have an estimated cost of at least $2.2 million. The city of O’Fallon has agreed to reimburse the $2.2 million to the developers. The money is expected to come from property taxes.

Highland Homes also asked the city to declare the contaminated site as a “blighted area,” to allow the company to qualify for thirteen years’ worth of property tax abatement, according to Missouri’s urban redevelopment law.

On Thursday April 10 the City Council voted 5-2 to declare the site as a blighted area, and allow Highland Homes to qualify for the property tax abatement.

According to O’Fallon’s Mayor, Donna Morrow, a tax deal such as this one—for a primarily residential development—is the first of its kind in the history of the county.

However, the redevelopment plans have not yet been approved: the council is concerned that the plans do not include a method of guaranteeing that the asbestos clean-up will take place. The council will consider the plan at the next meeting on April 24.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota – An anonymous man who spoke to a Sioux Falls, South Dakota newspaper “The Argus Leader” says that America’s Veterans’ Affairs system needs a “complete makeover,” citing his experiences as a vet with asbestosis.

The man, who is 71 years old, was diagnosed with asbestosis, a lung disease that develops as a result of long-term or heavy exposure to inhalable asbestos fibers. He says that the VA confirms that he developed asbestosis as a result of his service aboard a U.S. Navy ship.

Asbestos saw extremely widespread use in Navy ships, and as a consequence, many Navy men and ship-builders have developed asbestos-related diseases such as asbestosis and mesothelioma. Even though the use of asbestos was largely discontinued in the 1970s and 1980s, people who served in the Navy or worked in ship-yards are still developing these diseases, due to their long latency periods.

The South Dakota ex-Navy man says “In every American Legion, VFW and DAV magazine, there are advertisements stating that asbestosis strikes within 50 years of exposure. The way I see it, I think the VA is waiting for me to die so it won’t have to compensate me.”

The VA, he says, gave him “ten percent compensation” between September 2004 and April 2005, then stopped the compensation after this date, saying that the man’s health had improved and compensation was no longer warranted.

However, asbestosis is a disease that does not go away, and the damage done to the lungs is not reversible. In his own words, “The VA has many excuses why I no longer get compensation, but all agree I have and will continue to have asbestosis.”

Asbestosis causes a variety of debilitating symptoms. Asbestosis causes chronic irritation and inflammation of the lungs, eventually leading to the development patches of scar tissue within the lungs. Scar tissue cannot function as normal healthy lung tissue does, and the end result is considerable pain and difficulty breathing. While ceasing exposure to asbestos can prevent the disease worsening, the damage done to the lungs is irreparable.

The ex-Navy man writes that he can no longer carry out normal every-day activities such as taking care of his yard, hunting, fishing, or gardening. He has been diagnosed with “emphysema, chronic cough, chronic bronchitis, asthma and other ailments,” and uses a full range of inhalers, medications, and other equipment to help him breathe and sleep.

He writes, “It seems a terrible shame that you stand up for your country, but it doesn’t stand up for you” He urges veterans and other concerned people to ask for help from their senators and congressmen, saying “It’s time we honor those who served their country.”

A mesothelioma research group has discovered that treatment with anti-cancer drug Pemetrexed may be more effective if patients are treated with caffeine before receiving chemotherapy.

Pemetrexed (sold under the brand name Alimta) is usually given in combination with another chemotherapy drug called Cisplatin. The drug is one of a class of chemotherapy agents known as folate antimetabolites. It works by inhibiting certain enzymes that are used in DNA synthesis. The end result is that cells cannot synthesize new DNA molecules, leading to their death.

As with other chemotherapy drugs, Pemetrexed targets rapidly dividing cells, leading to side effects such as reduced immune function and hair loss caused by the death of hair follicles and immune cells as well as cancer cells. Side effects can be reduced if patients take supplements of folic acid and vitamin B12.

The combination of Pemetrexed and Cisplatin was approved by the FDA for the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma in 2004. Pemetrexed is also approved for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.

A report of the new Pemetrexed research, entitled “Caffeine markedly sensitizes human mesothelioma cell lines to pemetrexed,” appeared in the “Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology” journal in April 2008. The research group is based at the Departments of Medicine and Molecular Pharmacology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in The Bronx, New York.

Because caffeine was already known to improve the effects of radiation and chemotherapy-induced killing of cells, the researchers decided to investigate whether caffeine could improve the anti-mesothelioma activity of Pemetrexed.

The researchers used four different cell lines to test the effects of caffeine. Cell lines are altered so that they can grow in the laboratory almost indefinitely. Each was a different type of tumor cell line derived from mesothelial cells.

They found that all of the tumor cell lines were ‘sensitized’ with caffeine treatment, meaning that when the cells were treated with caffeine and then exposed to Pemetrexed, the cell-killing activity of the chemotherapy drug was improved.

Interestingly, the researchers found that ‘pulsing’ the cells with caffeine by applying caffeine in a series of short-term exposure periods was more effective than continuous exposure to the substance.

The researchers also found that Pemetrexed sensitization occurred in cells treated with an analog of caffeine, called theobromine. The caffeine analog may be safer to use in patients, as it can be administered more safely at higher doses.

The researchers concluded that caffeine and theobromine may both be useful at improving the effectives of Pemetrexed chemotherapy.

California-based asbestos awareness group The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) filed suit against CBS Corp and several toy retailers last week, claiming that the toy-making company had sold toys containing asbestos.

The item in question is a toy crime-scene based on the CBS television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. In November of 2007, the ADAO announced they had sponsored tests on these and other toys and household goods. Several of the items tested, including the toy crime-scene kits, were found to contain asbestos.

Long-term exposure to asbestos is known to cause an asbestos-related disease called asbestosis. Even small amounts of exposure can potentially cause lung cancer, and mesothelioma, an aggressive type of asbestos cancer that develops in the lining of the lungs.

According to the lawsuit, filed in the LA Superior Court, the lab tests showed that the fingerprint dusting powder in the toy kits contained “substantial quantities of tremolite asbestos…one of the most lethal forms of asbestos.”

The manufacturer of the toys, Planet Toys Inc, had removed the toy crime-scene kits from the market late in 2007, after the ADAO made their asbestos claims public in a press release issued late November. Planet Toys Inc said it had conducted multiple tests on the toys but had not discovered any asbestos.

Planet Toys Inc said that some of the kits had been manufactured in China. Millions of toys, recalled last year, which had been sourced from China, had been found to contain hazards such as small magnets or lead paint. Planet Toys Inc issued a “stop sale” on all CSI fingerprint kits “until further information can be ascertained as to the discrepancy between…respective test findings.”

The ADAO claims that the defendants failed to warm consumers that the kits were contaminated with asbestos, a known hazardous material. Such warnings are required by state law. The ADAO wants a court order to stop the kits being sold unless they carry the state-required warning. The organization wants companies to allow consumers to return the kits and obtain a full refund, pay for asbestos testing of returned kits, and pay for medical treatment if it becomes necessary. ADAO also believes that civil penalties are required.

The lawsuits were filed by Public Justice on behalf of ADAO. Victoria Ni, lead Public Justice attorney, said “…this powder has been marketed and sold to thousands of children who are told to spread it around and blow off the excess. It’s a shame that we’ve had to resort to litigation to force these companies to do what they should have done in the first place to protect the American public.”

A spokesperson for the CBS company’s consumer products division said that CBS had ended its licensing agreement for the toy crime scene kits with Planet Toys Inc.