Archive for the ‘Asbestos Exposure’ Category

The United States Department of Health and Human Services, in conjunction with the United States Environmental Protection Agency, announced this week in a press release the launch of the Libby Amphibole Health Risk Initiative, a series of projects created for the purposes of understanding the health effectives of low-level exposure to the asbestos found in Libby, Montana.

Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said, “My interest in Libby dates to the first of my visits with the people of that community with Senator Max Baucus, who deserves credit for his tireless and passionate work on behalf of that community.

“Too little is currently known about exposure to lower levels of Libby asbestos. We hope this effort will expand our knowledge of potential and real health issues that could be facing this group of individuals.”

The five-year initiative will cost $8 million, and will be jointly funded by the HSS Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and the EPA. The study will focus on determine whether exposure to low levels of “Libby asbestos” increases the risk of developing lung disease, cancer, chronic illnesses, auto-immune diseases or other health problems. Currently, it is known that high level asbestos exposure can cause several types of cancer, including mesothelioma, lung cancer, and colorectal cancer, as well as chronic lung and upper respiratory conditions.

EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson said of the new initiative, “Since 1999, EPA has been working closely with the community of Libby to clean up contamination and reduce risks to human health. In collaboration with HHS, EPA will continue to help protect the health and well-being of the Libby residents.”

The new project will ask for input and advice from residents and organizations in Libby, and will include the following features:

• Comparison studies on people exposed to Libby asbestos during childhood, and people who weren’t, and their health status and conditions.
• Extended evaluation of residents who were exposed to Libby asbestos, including people with differing levels of environmental exposure.
• Assessment of the different types of adverse health effects that may result from exposure to Libby asbestos.
• Continuation of a study by the HSS Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health which compares film and digital chest x-rays to determine which is best for diagnostic purposes.
• Strengthening existing public health tracking systems such as the State Cancer Registry and patient health record databases to provide better links between exposure levels and expected health outcomes.

City officials in East Liverpool, Ohio, are still trying to negotiate to avoid paying the $30,000 fine the EPA wants to collect for asbestos violations.

East Liverpool City Council Members met recently to discuss the fine, and Law Director Charles Payne says the city still plans to challenge it.

Payne said, “Their demand of $30,000 is still the issue here. During our last meeting with the EPA, the city made a counter offer of $2,000 for a fine, and we basically tied that into the fine for Earl Taylor during the initial court case.”

The incident that sparked the fine came to light in May 2006, says East Liverpool Mayor Jim Swoger. The incident involved Street Department Supervisor Earl Taylor, who hired a contractor to remove asbestos-containing pipe insulation from a city-owned building.

Around 500 linear feet of pipe insulation was removed from the building, which Taylor then buried at a clean landfill site on property that the city also owned. Several days later, then-Service Safety Director William Cowan notified the Ohio EPA about the asbestos removal and disposal due to safety concerns.

The removal and disposal of the asbestos turned out to be illegal. The asbestos removal was carried out with the knowledge or consent of the Ohio EPA. The agency also says the removal did not adhere to the necessary safety standards. In addition the asbestos that was removed was disposed of at a landfill site that was not equipped to safely handle asbestos waste.

Asbestos removal must be carried out carefully to prevent the spread of asbestos dust, which can cause cancer and other serious diseases if inhaled. Typical asbestos removal includes wet-removal procedures to dampen materials and prevent dust dispersing.

Disposing of asbestos safely is another important issue, as asbestos at landfill sites can present a health hazard to anyone working or visiting the site. Asbestos can only be disposed of at waste sites that are equipped to handle hazardous materials.

Several days after the incident was discovered, workers from Cardinal Environmental Services cleaned up the remaining asbestos at the removal site, and cleaned up the landfill.

Swoger doesn’t understand why the EPA has imposed the fine, because the asbestos has been cleaned up, and Earl Taylor had already been fined. In addition, says Swoger, city officials notified the EPA of the incident and didn’t try to cover it up.

“When it came to light, the city notified the Ohio EPA and spent $14,500 to remediate the problem,” said Law Director Charles Payne of the incident. The EPA has already rejected the city’s counter-proposal of the $2,000 fine payment.

W.R. Grace & Company has plans to exit bankruptcy in 2009, but bank demands for approximately $100 million in interest payments may cause problems for the company. Paying the interest may upset an important deal with some of W.R. Grace & Company’s many asbestos creditors, and delay the company’s bankruptcy still further.

The banks which are demanding the money have around $500 million out on loan to W.R. Grace & Company, and are demanding that the company pay interest at default rates. That, says W.R. Grace, is jeopardizing the company’s settlement with asbestos creditors and may even prevent the company exiting Chapter 11 bankruptcy status in 2009.

The company highlighted the issue in papers it filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware on Friday. According to the papers, W.R Grace & Company is, after many years of bankruptcy and litigation, “poised to proceed with the proposed asbestos settlement and emerge from Chapter 11.” However, the papers say, “The lenders’ most recent demand…threatens to derail that process.”

The banks, says W.R Grace, have labeled the company’s Chapter 11 proposal as “unconfirmable” because. The banks believe that the proposal short-changes them because it fails to give them the default interest rate on the loans. With $500 million in loans at stake, the difference in interest rates means the banks believe they are ‘missing out’ on a substantial amount of money.

W.R Grace & Company wants presiding bankruptcy Judge Judith Fitzgerald to decide whether the banks are entitled to the default interest rate as quickly as possible, because until the decision on the interest rate is made, the company doesn’t know whether it can make good on the asbestos deal it hopes to confirm. That deal is the basis for the company’s plan to exit bankruptcy.

This highlights the fact that the W.R Grace & Company isn’t the only entity waiting for this decision: thousands of asbestos creditors—including people who have developed asbestos-related diseases as a result of asbestos exposure the company is responsible for—are waiting too.

The request for the extra interest was made back in April, when J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. made the request on behalf of itself and other members of the group which holds the company’s bank debt.
If the banks win the ruling, W.R. Grace warns, the trial which was stopped in favor of a settlement will start up again, because the outcome of the trial determines whether the company has enough value to cover its debts and liabilities.

Oakland, Pennsylvania – Students at Schenley High School in Oakland won’t be returning after the summer: the school is closing down, forever, due to the need for repairs which would cost more than the school can afford.

The renovation costs have been driven up significantly by the presence of asbestos which needs to be removed, and there just isn’t enough money in the budget to repair the 92-year-old high school building.

Many students are upset that they won’t be returning to the high school after the summer. Instead, they’ll be temporarily relocated to another nearby school.

Use of asbestos in construction and renovation materials was widespread between the 1940s and 1980s. Older buildings, including schools, which undergo renovation or demolition must be treated with caution due to the likelihood that asbestos is present.

Due to the health risks involved in asbestos exposure, work with or around the substance is tightly regulated and there are several laws and requirements that control how asbestos-containing materials and buildings must be handled. These requirements tend to significantly increase the costs of any renovation or demolition involving asbestos. In the case of the Schenley High School and other buildings which contain asbestos materials, there are two factors that significantly increase the costs of renovation.

The first is that the asbestos must be treated with extreme caution, and special procedures must be used when handling or removing the substance. This requires licensed professionals who are trained to handle asbestos, and often means tight school budgets are stretched even further by the need to hire licensed asbestos contractors.

The second factor is that disposal of asbestos-containing construction waste is up to three times more expensive than disposal of non-hazardous waste, due to the necessity of disposing of the material at a landfill that is equipped to handle hazardous materials. If asbestos waste must be removed, its disposal pushes up the costs of renovations hugely.

The issue of asbestos in schools is likely to become an increasingly widespread problem. Asbestos was used in a variety of building materials between the 1940s and 1980s, due to the substance’s excellence as a fire-retardant, insulator, and acoustic barrier. As asbestos-containing materials age, repairs and renovations may cause disturbance to asbestos materials. These types of disturbances can potentially present a health hazard if proper procedures are not followed to limit exposure.

To deal with asbestos in schools, the EPA requires that all schools that contain asbestos maintain a management plan that details the location of asbestos, its condition, and the measures taken to prevent exposure. In schools where asbestos is present, parents and school employees can request to see a copy of the asbestos management plan at any time.

For some schools, such as Schenley High School, however, simply managing the asbestos just isn’t an efficient way to deal with the problem. Many more schools are likely to face similar issues in the future, as the costs of managing asbestos become prohibitive.

One South Bay school district has spent thousands cleaning up asbestos, but for one long-time school district maintenance worker, that’s not enough. George Gerber claims that asbestos is still a problem in several district schools.

Gerber works in maintenance at the Sweetwater Union High School District and has been employed there for seventeen years. Recently he reported to a San Diego news team that almost all of the schools in the district contain asbestos, and says he’s concerned about possible exposure risks for students and staff members.

Gerber also claims that he has repeatedly tried to get the school district to pay attention to his concerns, and has been repeatedly ignored or brushed off. Gerber says, “There are areas and rooms that I’ve been reporting for extended period of time that’s almost gone on in 2 years that haven’t been addressed.”

The news team’s recent report on the problem initiated action from National City Vice Mayor Frank Parra, who is concerned because three National City schools are part of the
Sweetwater Union High School District. Parra says of the issue, “We’re always an advocate for our citizens, our children.”

Parra wrote in a recent letter to school district Superintendent Dr. Jesus Gandara, “… it has been brought to our attention that public health concerns have been raised that relate to asbestos…” and asks that the school district “… educate us on the mitigation efforts of the District as well as the School Asbestos Management Plan.”

To deal with asbestos in schools, the EPA requires that all schools that contain asbestos maintain a management plan that details the location of asbestos, its condition, and the measures taken to prevent exposure. In schools where asbestos is present, parents and school employees can request to see a copy of the asbestos management plan at any time.

Since 2000, National City and South Bay has approved a total of eight million dollars’ worth of expenditure for cleaning up asbestos in schools. However, seventeen district schools still contain some asbestos.

One major problem is simply that asbestos remediation is expensive. Due to the health risks involved in asbestos exposure, there are several laws and requirements that control how asbestos-containing materials and buildings must be handled. These requirements tend to significantly increase the costs of any renovation or demolition involving asbestos.

Asbestos must be treated with extreme caution, and special procedures must be used when handling or removing the substance. This often means tight school budgets are stretched even further by the need to hire licensed asbestos contractors. Another issue is that disposal of asbestos-containing construction waste is up to three times more expensive than disposal of non-hazardous waste.

Joliet, Illinois -  A full day after state health officials shut down a section of the Marycrest Shopping Center in Joliet, Illinois, some businesses were still operating in the center, unaware of the possible asbestos dangers.

One business was ordered not to open due to the possible asbestos threat, but stores on either side were not told of the danger and were allowed to remain open.

Marycrest Shopping center is made up of multiple buildings each with its own ventilation system, and all stores in one of the buildings were supposed to be ordered closed, while stores in other separate buildings could remain open.

However, it was subsequently discovered that many of those businesses were supposed to be ordered shut, but had not received the order due to an oversight.

A section of the Maycrest Shopping Center in Joliet, Illinois was closed after state health officials became concerned about the possibility of asbestos exposure. Officials ordered that work on the now-closed section of the shopping mall be stopped on Wednesday June 4, as they believed flooring was being removed without proper safety precautions being taken.

The shopping center was built in the 1950s, is now half empty, and is undergoing renovations. However, this week sees the second time that officials have ordered that renovations be stopped due to concerns over possible asbestos exposure, said Joliet director of inspectional services David Mackley.

Mackley said that a state inspector called health authorities to the renovation site on Wednesday after the inspector noticed that work had been carried out in an office area which was known to contain asbestos.

Site inspectors subsequently ordered that the work be stopped, as they believed the tiles which were being removed were of a kind that was glued to floors with an asbestos-containing adhesive. Tests carried out by the Illinois Department of Public Health subsequently showed that asbestos was in fact present in the adhesive.

An Illinois Department of Public Health spokesperson said the owners of Maycrest will be required to hire contractors who are licensed to handle asbestos. Another health department spokesperson, Melaney Arnold, said the law would require an inspection to be carried out before work could start.

Whether or not those in the stores which were supposed to be closed were exposed to asbestos won’t be known for some time, possibly decades, as asbestos-related diseases such as mesothelioma cancers have long latency periods.

A full six weeks after the Scientology cruise ship “Freewinds” was docked for repairs which led to the discovery of large amounts of asbestos, the ship is still locked down.

It is now believed by some that the ship may never be able to take passengers again, due to the enormous expense of removing the large quantities of asbestos it contains.

After being quarantined on April 26 at Mathey Warf in Curacao, Netherlands Antilles, Curacao Drydock Company was contracted to carry out refurbishment and repairs on the ship, but the company quickly ceased work due to the risk of asbestos exposure.

Large amounts of Crocidolite (blue asbestos) were found to be present onboard the ship, and a statement from the vessel’s captain indicates that there have been previous incidents where the asbestos was released into the ship’s onboard ventilation system, which could potentially have resulted in asbestos exposure for everyone on board.

Several officials, including deputy head of the Department of Labor Affairs Christiene van der Biezen and local health department head Tico Ras, inspected the ship and took samples from paneling that was subsequently found to contain blue asbestos in significant amounts.

Subsequently, the Executive Council held a meeting and decided that informing the public would be the best way to avoid rumors and other problems.

Other reports say that allegations about asbestos onboard the ship were made at least seven years ago. Lawrence Woodcraft, an architect and former Scientologist, claimed to have filed an affidavit affirming that he encountered blue asbestos on the ship in 1987-more than twenty years ago-and informed Scientology leaders.

After the Curacao Drydock Company withdrew its workers, a team from the U.S. then arrived in The Netherlands to clean up the Scientology cruise ship. The arrival of the clean-up team was reported by Amigoe, the longest-running daily news publication in Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles.

The U.S. team was subsequently found to be comprised of members of Scientology’s own paramilitary organization, the “Sea Org.” The clean-up team has been transporting truckloads of asbestos from the ship to the Selikor landfill site at Malpais, which is located on the island.

However, despite these cleaning efforts, which may be putting members of Sea Org at high risk of asbestos exposure, Netherlands Ministry of Environment officials say that the enormous cost of making the “Freewinds” safe for use once again may end up being much more than the ship is actually worth.

Homewood, Illinois - Test results from samples taken at Homewood Fire Station in Homewood, Illinois show that there is no asbestos present in the air, meaning that no exposure risks have occurred as a result of recent renovation work.

Asbestos was discovered at the Homewood Fire Station at 17950 Dixie Highway around two weeks ago, and testing was carried out to determine whether airborne asbestos was present in the building.

Village manager Mark Franz said a small amount of asbestos may have been disturbed during renovation work carried out on a water-damaged wall on the north side of the fire station. The work was carried out two weeks ago by a Homewood-based business, Rickoff Remodeling.

“It was just a small amount [of asbestos] discovered,” said Franz after the asbestos was found. “Unless a major problem is discovered through testing, we don’t anticipate closing down any other part of the building. But if there is more asbestos found than expected we’ll do whatever cleaning is necessary to make the building safe.”

The asbestos was removed by environmental consulting and contract service RCM soon after its discovery. Following the removal air samples and other tests were carried out by RCM to determine how high asbestos levels are and whether exposure risks are present in the building. According to Mark Franz, early asbestos tests indicate that one room on the north side of the fire station building may be above the threshold for permissible levels of asbestos.

Since the discovery and removal of asbestos the fire station has been inspected by the Illinois Department of Public Health, and officials have requested that a large part of the building be cordoned off until the results of the asbestos tests are in. Four administrative buildings in the fire station were cordoned off to carry out the “aggressive” air tests which were recommended by the Department of Public Health.

Asbestos was so commonly used in construction up until the 1980s that the discovery of asbestos inside the Homewood fire station is not a surprise. In fact, recent reports indicate that asbestos may be a common fixture in older fire stations.

In Newton, Massachusetts, for example, the town’s fire stations will all be renovated over the next ten years, partly for the purpose of removing asbestos from the buildings. Recent renovation work in Newton’s Fire Station 3 exposed several firefighters to asbestos, and asbestos was also discovered at the town’s Fire Station 2.

In the case of the Homewood, Illinois station, the asbestos was discovered without any apparent exposure risks occurring. According to Mark Franz, “The entire area has been cleared for occupancy by the Illinois Department of Public Health.”

Fairmont, New York - The most recent deadline for an asbestos abatement project in Goldens Bridge has come and gone, and town officials have extended the deadline yet again.

Town officials have made several efforts to get property owner Brian Stein to clean up the three dilapidated cottages on the property, but Stein has not responded to any requests. All three of the dilapidated cottages contain asbestos, which must be removed before the cottages can be demolished.

Members of the Town Board finally agreed that the town would complete the work and temporarily cover the costs involved.

Asbestos, which is known to cause an aggressively lethal type of cancer called mesothelioma, was widely used in construction materials for much of the twentieth century, and due to the widespread use of the substance, older buildings must be demolished with special care.

Older buildings which contain asbestos must have all the asbestos removed before demolition can go ahead, to prevent the generation and dispersal of large clouds of asbestos dust which could contaminate the environment and be breathed in by locals.

Removal of asbestos is costly and time-consuming, however, due to the need for specially trained and licensed workers, the need for special removal techniques to limit the production of dust, and the increased costs of disposal of asbestos-containing materials.

Area residents have been complaining for almost a decade that the three cottages are dangerous, not only due to asbestos, but also due simply to their run-down state.

Three successive town administrations have had discussions on what to do about the situation, but no action was taken until this year, when Town Supervisor Edward Brancati gave Stein a deadline of May 19 to locate and hire a contractor to carry out the asbestos remediation, but the deadline passed with no progress made.

Stein responded with a letter stating that he was “appalled at [officials'] behavior and blatant lies.” Stein claims that he had been negotiating a contract with an asbestos abatement contractor, and that town officials had interfered and caused the deal to fall through.

Even so, the town has issued yet another deadline, saying that Stein now has until Monday June 9 to contact officials. Bracanti says of the new deadline, “This is really it. It’s June 9 and I am not kidding.”

Local frustration is high in Lyndhurst, New Jersey, over the actions of Bedroc Contracting, an excavation and demolition company. The company is under fire over its recycling center, which is located directly adjacent to a new recreation complex, and is also located near the town’s pre-kindergarten facility.

Due to zoning regulations the recycling facilities can take in wood, metal, masonry and concrete materials. However, locals are particularly concerned about the large amounts of dust created by concrete crushing operations at the facilities.

Many residents are worried over the possibility that some of the concrete contains asbestos and other harmful substances. One resident said, “I have issues with putting children on those fields without knowing what’s in that dust. I have serious concerns about it.”

Asbestos, a naturally-occurring fibrous mineral, is particularly harmful when crushed or otherwise disturbed, as the act of crushing releases tiny asbestos fibers into the air. Once airborne these fibers can be inhaled. Over many years, inhaled asbestos fibers can cause a serious type of asbestos cancer called mesothelioma, which is aggressive, resistant to treatment, and ultimately fatal.

The recycling center is allowed to accept construction waste, but isn’t zoned for crushing stone (or concrete). Bedroc Contracting has already been fined a total of $4,000 for six violations during April, but continues to crush concrete and stone.

Town officials say there isn’t much they can do, as state zoning regulations allow the crushing to continue. One official said, “We’ve been complaining to the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission now for seven, eight months. We’ve been pursuing it as what we see is a potential health hazard. It’s a clear problem that needs to be addressed. These fines just aren’t enough to cause compliance.”

The town has retained environmental counsel to deal with the matter. Eric Bernstein has so far documented conditions at the facility with photographs and complaints from locals about dust and noise.

State officials say they are beginning to note compliance issues, and have found instances where the recycling center has violated the conditions of its permit.

NJDEP spokesperson Larry Hajna said, “Solid waste inspectors visited the site in mid-April and noted that facility operators were advised they were out of compliance for various recycling center approval conditions.” However, the NJDEP has issued only one fine, in 2006, for $3,000.

State agencies are finally beginning to come down on Bedroc Contracting for its violations, with six recorded in April at a cost of $4,000 in fines. In the mean time, residents are being encouraged to voice the complaints about the dust that’s being created at the recycling center.