Archive for the ‘California’ Category

San Diego, California – For many people, 9/11 brought grief and fear, after the devastating attacks killed several thousand people. The aftereffects may linger much longer than was first thought. Men and women who worked at ground zero for days and weeks afterwards are at risk of serious health problems in the future due to the quantity of asbestos in the air following the attacks on the World Trade Center.

The experience of Elliot R., who volunteered to work on the clean-up crew following the attacks, is similar to that of many people who helped clean up the site in the weeks that followed. “The amount of particulate matter in the air was palpable…and a lot of asbestos was in the air,” he says.

Elliot R. developed serious respiratory problems that required hospitalization on two separate occasions, and he eventually had to leave New York

Now living in California, Elliot R. is concerned because of information indicating that there was asbestos in the air for many days following the 9/11 incident.

Having worked for an insurance company, he also knows that many people have filed asbestos-related lawsuits against the city.

He’s also certain that asbestos was heavily used in the Twin Towers, saying “When those towers were built, there is no doubt that asbestos was used as a primary material in the construction. My father is an engineer and he built skyscrapers, projects that were huge. He told me that indeed, asbestos was widely used.”

Many rescue workers and clean-up volunteers had only paper masks, or no protective respiratory equipment at all, in the first few days following 9/11. Of those who didn’t use such equipment, many are now experiencing serious respiratory issues.

In 2003, Dr. Robin Herbert, a Mt. Sinai Hospital physician and researcher who had been involved in screening and treating rescue and volunteer workers, said “a substantial percent continue to have persistent upper and lower respiratory symptomatology — coughs and sinus problems.”

The Environmental Protection Agency, when referring to the safety of the site, initially said that the air was safe to breathe. This almost certainly influenced people who were debating whether or not to use respirators and other protective equipment.

In addition, the EPA actually did find asbestos in up to 25% of dust samples taken from the site.

Many years later, people are still suffering respiratory problems, and there is concern that the worst has yet to be seen.

Diseases such as mesothelioma and asbestosis, which are caused only by asbestos exposure, are long latency diseases. That means several decades may elapse between asbestos exposure and the onset of the first symptoms of disease.

For the people who worked on-site in rescue and clean-up activities, the long-term health consequences may take decades to appear.

San Francisco, California – A former San Francisco Bay Area couple who filed an asbestos-related lawsuit in 2005 have won for a second time. The jury in the case decided in their favor in July 2006, and the couple have now won their appeal case, too.

The state appeals court upheld an award of more than $11 million that was granted by the jury in the original case. In the 2006 verdict, the jury awarded over $1.1 million to Joseph Garza, and $400,000 to wife Mary Garza. The jury also awarded $10 million in punitive damages against the defendant, Asbestos Corp.

Joseph Garza was diagnosed with asbestosis in 2005, and the couple, who are now residents of Colorado, filed a lawsuit against Asbestos Corp in the same year.

During the trial, Joseph Garza testified that he cannot breathe without an oxygen unit, that he can walk only half a block at a time, and that his health problems had made it increasingly difficult to care for his wife. Mary Garza, who also had health problems, was almost entirely dependent on her husband for care and support.

The jury also heard how Joseph Garza had joined the Navy at the age of 17, and had worked for over a decade on ships in locations such as Hunters Point Shipyard in San Francisco.

Garza’s work involved using asbestos-containing products to repair boilers. He was not provided with protective clothing, or any warnings about the potential health issues associated with asbestos exposure.

Joseph Garza was also exposed to asbestos-containing insulation in later employment. However, Asbestos Corp, as the manufacturer of the sealant used by the Navy at the time Garza was in its employment, was assigned 75% of the responsibility for Garza’s illness by the San Francisco jury.

The First District Court of Appeal rendered their verdict on the last Friday in March, and upheld the verdict originally given by the jury in the 2006 trial. The appeal court echoed the jury’s sentiments in saying that Asbestos Corp had acted “reprehensibly.”

The three-judge appeals panel cited testimony that had been given during the trial, saying that Asbestos Corp had “intentionally marketed a defective product knowing that it might cause injury and death.”

In the trial, it was shown that Asbestos Corp had been aware of the dangers of asbestos since the 1940s, but had sold the product until the 1970s without attaching any warning labels.

March 24, 2008 - With half a dozen stories about asbestos in schools popping up in the news every week, it’s easy to forget that many schools are beset by many other environmental and safety problems in addition to asbestos.

The problem of asbestos and how to manage asbestos in schools might be a major issue-particularly as schools age and deteriorate-but that’s not the only problem schools are facing.

Deborah Moore, the executive director of a California action group called the Green Schools Initiative, says that asbestos is only part of the story. Moore says that “out of 135,000 schools in the country, only a fraction are green schools.” But what’s a green school, and why is this an important issue?

The goal of the Green Schools Initiative is to ensure that schools in the Brookfield-based action group’s area are safe and healthy places for Brookfield’s children. Clean air, quality drinking water, energy efficiency, healthy food served in the school’s cafeteria, and other environmental and health issues are just as important as the question of how to manage asbestos, since they affect the health of children at the schools, and in turn may affect their ability to learn.

The Green Schools Initiative believes that making environmentally sound choices for schools is crucial, and Moore says that thinking of schools as “little cities” is important to understand why. Schools use energy, produce waste, have transportation systems, and can make many decisions autonomously, meaning that schools have the capacity to make decisions that affect health, safety, and the environment.

This concept is well-illustrated by the EPA’s asbestos in schools management plan program. All schools that contain asbestos must produce an asbestos management plan that details where asbestos is located in the school, the condition of the asbestos, and what steps have been taken to contain the asbestos and prevent exposure.

The school must keep the plan updated any time its asbestos status changes, and parents and school employees can request to see a copy of the asbestos management plan at any time.

The asbestos issue also illustrates the ‘green schools’ concept fairly well. Older schools-those built prior to the 1980s-are highly likely to contain asbestos, due to the widespread use of the substance in construction materials between the 1940s and 1980s.

These older schools are also more likely to have outdated, inefficient heating and lighting systems, less likely to be able to meet the needs of today’s students, and more likely to be unable to cope with the demands of an increasing school roster.

Older schools are also more likely to be riddled with asbestos. Hundreds of thousands-even millions-of dollars may be needed over the long term to update these schools, and continue to protect children from dangerous substances such as asbestos.

March 21, 2008, Madison County, Illinois – Over the past few years, asbestos cases had dropped off in Madison County. This week, however, that all changed, as twenty asbestos-related lawsuits were filed between March 13 and March 18.

That’s a total of 1,036 summonses being sent to defendants in the suits, and a total of $129,997 in fees paid to the Madison County Circuit Clerk’s Office.

March 13

* Marcella Walters (Nebraska) was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2007 and claims she was exposed to asbestos between 1946 and 1977 while working as a secretary. She also claims she received secondary exposure from her husband’s work clothes.

* The estate of Mary Hazelrigg (Indiana) claims she was exposed during the 1970s while working as a welder’s assistant, and via secondary exposure from her ex-husband’s clothing. She died in April 2007 after being diagnosed with mesothelioma in October 2006.

* Darrel Henderson (Kansas) claims he has lung cancer that developed as a result of asbestos exposure during his service in the US Navy. He was diagnosed in 2007.

* The estate of Nancy Foster claims her lung cancer developed following asbestos exposure during the 1960s and 1970s while working as a laborer and housekeeper.

* Edward Kronsperger, diagnosed with mesothelioma in January 2008, claims he developed the disease as a result of asbestos exposure while in service to the US Navy.

* The estate of James Price (Tennessee) claims he developed lung cancer as a result of asbestos exposure while working for Texaco, Shell Oil, Amoco, Anheuser-Busch, Chrysler and American Zinc between 1964 and 1993.

March 14

* William Yeager (Missouri) claims his mesothelioma developed following asbestos exposure during his career as a boilermaker.

* Forrest Bateman (Idaho) developed mesothelioma, allegedly following work as a dairy farmer, machinist, and x-ray technician, between 1949 and 1990. He also claims to have suffered secondary exposure from his wife’s work clothes.

* Nina Anderson (Illinois) claims her mesothelioma developed from a mixture of occupational and secondary asbestos exposure from her husband’s work clothes.

* The Estate of Daniel Malcolm claims he died of mesothelioma caused by asbestos exposure that occurred during his career as a teacher and foundry-worker.

March 17

* Larry Marlow (Texas) was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2007, following a 41 year career working as a laborer.

* The estate of Doyle Clayton claims his mesothelioma developed after working as a machinist between 1956 and 1990.

* The estate of Lois Nisi claims her mesothelioma developed as a result of asbestos exposure that occurred during her 48-year machinist career.

* Gloria LaBargage (California) claims she developed mesothelioma as a result of asbestos exposure that occurred after 1968.

* Roy Brown (Indiana), diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2007, claims his disease results from asbestos exposure during his work as a laborer between 1972 and 1974.

March 18

* John Barringer (Pennsylvania) was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2007 and claims it’s the result of exposure that may have occurred while in service to the US Navy or during his time as a computer manager in Pennsylvania.

* Dolores Joppa (Arkansas) claims her mesothelioma is the result of both primary and secondary asbestos exposure.

* The estate of Frederick Shuberg claims he died from mesothelioma as a result of asbestos exposure that occurred from 1964 during the deceased’s work as a technician.

* Lawrence Schmidt claims his colon cancer developed as a result working with asbestos during his work as a painter.

* The estate of Charles Lampin, Sr. claims his esophageal cancer occurred as a result of asbestos exposure.

March 18, 2008 - Schools such as Asa Wood Elementary School in Libby, Montana, Bethel High School in Connecticut, and Mokelumne River School in Lodi, California have been in the news recently over asbestos-related issues. However, they’re by no means the only schools that have been having asbestos problems in the last few months.

While the schools of Libby definitely have more to be worried about, there are many other schools where asbestos has become a problem.

In the last couple of days alone, several schools have reported discovering deposits of asbestos-containing materials, or have published plans for management of existing asbestos materials.

Among them are Gibson City School in Gibson City, Illinois, Falmouth High School in Falmouth, Massachusetts, Harding High School in Warren, Ohio, Bancroft School in Swea City, Minnesota, and Main Street Middle School in Montpelier, Vermont.

Each of the schools is planning asbestos abatement activities to ensure the school remains safe for students. In some cases there are other problems, such as mold, making students and teachers sick.

In the case of Harding High School, the situation is somewhat different. Parts of the school are intended to be demolished, but asbestos abatement must be carried out before demolition can occur.

Abatement activities for these types of projects are typically expensive, and many schools are feeling the pinch. Even smaller projects can cost several thousand dollars. In the case of Mokelumne River School, for example, the cost of clean-up of a relatively small area was expected to reach $50,000. It’s not uncommon for the cost of larger asbestos abatement projects to run to several hundred thousand dollars.

Over the next several years increasing numbers of schools are likely to face asbestos problems. The mineral substance was widely used in construction materials from the 1940s to the 1980s, and those materials were used in both private and public buildings. Schools were certainly no exception, and unfortunately today’s students and school employees are paying the price for the enormously widespread use of asbestos in those five decades.

As these asbestos-containing materials age and deteriorate, needed repairs and renovations will uncover pockets of asbestos that need to be removed, potentially disrupting education for children in those schools. More importantly, health hazards are a very real possibility.

The EPA has taken steps to deal with the issue by requiring all schools that contain asbestos to formulate an asbestos management plan. The plan must indicate where in the school asbestos is located, as well as the condition of the asbestos-containing materials, and a description of the steps taken to prevent exposure from occurring. Parents of students who attend schools where asbestos is present can ask to see a copy of their school’s management plan at any time. School employees also have a right to view the plan.

LODI, California – On March 1, an asbestos release at Mokelumne River School forced the closing of the school while air quality was tested. Now, two weeks later, the entire school is in chaos over alleged mishandling of the situation.

The co-founder and board president of the school, Cliff Goehring admits that he could have handled the situation better, but denies that there was any cover-up of the situation after asbestos was found at the school

Since the asbestos was found, several parents have removed their children from the school, and a number of board members have either resigned or been fired. Many other parents are demanding that Goehring leave the school.

Asbestos, widely used in construction before 1980, is not unusual in school buildings. In most cases, the Environmental Protection Agency says, the asbestos should not be removed from the school building despite the health hazards that are associated with the release of asbestos fibers. Asbestos only becomes hazardous to health when the materials that contain it are disturbed or broken, releasing dust that contains asbestos fibers into the air. Inhaling asbestos fibers has been clearly shown to cause mesothelioma, a rare cancer that affects the lining of the lungs. Mesothelioma may take up to 40 years after exposure to develop. The EPA and other health agencies have stated that there is no safe level of exposure to asbestos.

Because of that, the EPA requires that schools inspect regularly for asbestos and asbestos containing materials in their buildings, and have a written asbestos management plan. Any time that asbestos is detected in the air in a school, there are specific procedures that must be followed in order to ensure the safety of the students.

At a meeting of parents last week, more than 100 people discussed what happened in the aftermath of the asbestos leak at the school. The parents allege that Goehring perpetrated a cover-up of the problem, claiming that among other things, he had failed to notify parents, students and staff in a timely manner and hosed down classrooms so that they would not test positive for asbestos. In addition, they claim that Goehring fired several board members who called for his resignation.

In response to the allegations, Goehring admits that he could have handled the situation better. He didn’t take the asbestos situation seriously enough at first, he said, but he did not engage in a cover up.

In response to the allegation that he had the affected classrooms hosed down to keep asbestos from showing up on air quality testing, Goehring said that the school is hosed down before school each morning to damp down the pollen in the air from over 100 trees on the property.

Goehring also claimed that he did not fire any board members. Rather, he said, that the board members gave him an ultimatum – either he go, or they would go. He responded that he was not going, and therefore assumed that the board members in question had resigned.

The school is currently undergoing asbestos cleanup and abatement. The final price tag of removing the asbestos will come to about $50,000.

LOS ANGELES, California - Yesterday, a jury awarded a $7million judgment to a California couple in compensation for the wife’s mesothelioma. The suit filed by Joan Mahoney and her husband alleged that Joan’s mesothelioma had its roots in exposure to asbestos in joint compound manufactured and distributed by Georgia Pacific Corp. Georgia Pacific plans to appeal the judgment, but the case has made headlines across the area, and the headlines have raised old concerns among homeowners throughout the area.

Asbestos was widely used in building and construction trades until about 1980. The fibrous mineral was often crushed, powdered and mixed into cement, cellulose, wood fibers and other materials and ingredients to add insulating and fire retardant properties to the materials. Companies like Georgia Pacific included asbestos in products like joint compound for texture and other reasons. Many older homes contain asbestos in a number of forms and places.

Joan Mahoney, an actress with a 30 year career, retired to a more sedate life with her husband in the 1960s. The couple ran a small remodeling business to help make ends meet. It was there, Mahoney’s lawsuit alleges, that she was exposed to asbestos dust. The joint compound manufactured and sold by Georgia Pacific would have been used in a number of different ways in those home remodel jobs. Most often, it was troweled over seams in wallboard then sanded smooth to create a seamless wall surface. Joint compound was also often used to create so-called “popcorn ceilings” and decorative troweled plaster ceilings.

According to information found at the EPA web site and from other health and environmental agencies, asbestos containing materials are not a hazard, as long as they are in good repair. Asbestos is only dangerous when tiny fibers of it become airborne and are inhaled or swallowed. The microscopic fibers lodge in the body, in soft tissues in the lungs, esophagus and other bodily tissues, where they remain for years. Eventually, they may cause lung cancer, asbestosis or pleural mesothelioma, the rare cancer that Mahoney was diagnosed with in 2006.

One of the occupations that is high on the list of those most at risk from mesothelioma are a group of construction workers called “joiners”. Their job was to mix joint compound, trowel it on and smooth it over seams between drywall panels, and then sand the asbestos-containing joint compound when it was dry. The dust caused by the sanding was laden with asbestos, known to cause mesothelioma in those who breathe it.

As Mahoney’s case makes front page news, home renovators are asking concerned questions about the risk that they take in remodeling their homes. Popcorn ceilings and textured walls in homes built or renovated during the years from World War II to about 1980 are likely to contain asbestos. If you are planning to renovate a home from that era, the EPA recommends that you have the materials tested to find out if they contain asbestos. If you choose not to have the materials tested, says the EPA, you should assume that there IS asbestos present, and take all the recommended precautions for dealing safely with asbestos.

March 12, 2008, San Francisco - Joan Mahoney, a 69-year-old-woman with mesothelioma, and her husband of 42 years, Daniel Mahoney, have won a $20 million dollar liability civil lawsuit, in what is one of the largest verdicts of its kind. The jury has attributed 30% of the $20 million liability to the defendant, Georgia Pacific Corp, for a total of $6 million.

Joan Mahoney spent much of her career working in real estate and the entertainment industry. She traveled around the world seven times as part of a singing career that spanned thirty years. Joan also spent a portion of her time working for the family construction business, and it was here that she was exposed to asbestos.

The Mahoney’s lawsuit has established that the asbestos exposure took place as a result of the use of a Georgia Pacific joint compound that contained asbestos. Through the Mahoneys’ work in the family construction business the couple built or remodeled more than 200 houses between the 1970s and 1990s. Asbestos was used in an enormous variety of construction materials, including joint compound and other adhesives, up until the mid 1980s.

Evidence presented by the Mahoneys’ representatives during the trial showed that Georgia Pacific had known of the hazards of asbestos exposure from the moment the company had entered the business of using asbestos in its products.

Exposure to asbestos is the only cause of diseases such as asbestosis, a chronic lung condition, and a cancer called mesothelioma. Joan Mahoney developed mesothelioma as a result of her asbestos exposure. There is currently no cure, and no effective treatments for this highly aggressive cancer.

The Mahoneys’ suit alleged that Georgia Pacific had known its joint compound posed a health risk to users many years before the couple’s construction business began using the product. In addition, Georgia Pacific continued to manufacture asbestos-containing joint compound products long after other companied had discontinued the practice.

Georgia Pacific ceased manufacturing and selling their asbestos-containing joint compound only in 1977, when the government banned certain types of asbestos-containing products. The Consumer Product Safety Commission indicated at the time that as little as four six-hour sessions of exposure to asbestos-containing joint compound per year could cause the development of asbestos cancer.

The Mahoneys’ lawsuit shows that up until 1977, Georgia Pacific had made a conscious decision to continue selling the asbestos-containing compound-to benefit financially despite knowing that the product they were selling could cause cancer in the people who used it and were exposed to it. Georgia Pacific benefits in particular because it decided to continue selling their joint compound after most other manufacturers had ceased production of similar products.

Joan Mahoney was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2006, around 35 years after she was first exposed to the asbestos in Georgia Pacific’s joint compound. Having fought and won against the company responsible for the disease, she now continues to fight the disease itself.

OAKLAND, California – Calaveras County Board of Supervisors will decide today whether or not to spend an additional $20,000 to complete the environmental assessment of a nearby asbestos landfill. An environmental consulting firm is preparing a request to amend a conditional use permit for regulating the disposal of tires at the former asbestos mine site.

The environmental assessment is being completed by Lamphier-Gregory of Oakland. The new permit would allow storage of up to 46,300 tires at the site that was once an asbestos mine producing about 25,000 tons of asbestos per day.

The permit modifications are being sought to ‘address staff concerns by continuing to use the cellular structure in addition to mixing tire shreds with inert mill tailings’. Those mill tailings include waste asbestos, a hazardous mineral that causes cancer, including mesothelioma, a rare cancer that is only found in those who have been exposed to asbestos.

The mine was in operation from 1968 to 1987, and produced about 25,000 tons a day of chrysotile asbestos from serpentine rock. In 1987, in the face of growing concerns about the health hazards of asbestos, Calaveras supervisors approved a reclamation plan for the mine site. In 1990, the county issued a conditional use permit for the storage of asbestos waste at the old mine site. That permit was later amended to include the storage of tires.

Lamphier-Gregory was retained to do a full environmental assessment of the current impact of the site and make recommendations on increasing the amount of tires that may be stored at the site. The contract with Lamphier-Gregory was last amended in 2005, at which point the company believed it could complete the assessment expeditiously within a year. However, the company amended in 2005, the necessity for a response to the California Integrated Waste Management Board required more work than was expected.

The 2005 contract would have expired December 31, 2007. If the request before the supervisors is approved at tonight’s meeting, the contract would continue through the end of this year and will cost an additional $20,000, which will be charged to California Asbestos Monofill.

Because asbestos is a hazardous substance that causes serious health problems in humans, federal law requires that it must be disposed of in accordance with strict guidelines. Those guidelines are designed to reduce the possibility of releasing asbestos fibers into the air where people may breathe it. When asbestos is removed from structures in the course of renovation or demolition, it must be transported in closed and sealed containers to a landfill that has the capacity to handle and contain it.

Lodi, California – A California elementary school is in disarray after the discovery of asbestos on campus. Mokelumne River School has become something of a battle ground, as almost one hundred teachers, parents, and members of the wider community attempt to determine exactly what went on following the discovery.

Asbestos was discovered in the school on February 26. It is believed that the discovery is the result of asbestos disturbance that occurred during walkway repairs carried out over President’s Day weekend.

Since the asbestos was discovered, a number of school board members have resigned or been fired. Nadine Zerbe, the school’s principal, has been asked to leave, despite the fact that she has the support of many parents.

A total of five school board members—including four former members and one who still retains a position on the board—have leveled accusations at Clifford Goehring, who is a school co-founder and the president of the school board. Mokelumne River School was founded by the Goehring family in 1971.

Among the accusations are that Clifford Goehring failed to properly notify students, parents, and members of the board of the asbestos discovery, in a reasonable amount of time.

Some parents believe that Goehring’s actions constitute a deliberate cover-up, claiming that the school board president asked others to keep quiet about the asbestos discovery, and also that Goehring tried to influence asbestos testing ordered by the school board.

In addition, the four school board members that had been fired were removed from their positions by Clifford Goehring himself. The four claim that they had asked Goehring to resign, because they believed he had mismanaged the school’s asbestos problem. Several days later, Goehring fired them.

On the evening of March 6, an evening meeting discussed how to handle the asbestos problem, and what to do about Goehring’s actions. Many parents, as well as several school board members, believe that Goehring mishandled the problem and attempted to cover-up the issue, and are calling for the school board president’s resignation.

Others are simply confused and trying to deal with the issues in a way that will present the least interference to the education of their children.

The problem of asbestos in schools is set to become an increasingly widespread issue. Asbestos was widely used in schools, particularly between the 1940s and 1980s, as a fire-retardant, insulator, and acoustic barrier in a variety of building materials. As these materials—and the schools themselves—age, needed repairs and renovations may cause disturbance to asbestos materials that, in turn, disturbs the daily routine of the school itself.

To deal with the problem of asbestos in schools, the Environmental Protection Agency requires that all schools which contain asbestos maintain a management plan that details the location of asbestos in the school, and the measures that are taken to ensure the safety of all who attend the school. Parents and school employees can request to see a copy of their school’s asbestos management plan at any time.

As for Mokelumne River School, asbestos remediation is underway in affected areas. Mokelumne River Superintendent Shannon Woodward says that the affected classrooms should be made available to students within two weeks, depending on the results of follow-up air quality tests that will be carried out after asbestos remediation is completed.