Archive for the ‘Nebraska’ Category

April 16, 2008, North Platte, Nebraska - The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency are both currently testing a downtown site in North Platte, Nebraska, for signs of asbestos and chemical contamination.

The land that is undergoing testing is the site of a former dry cleaning service which was torn down several years ago. The site is situated slightly west of the town’s 1913 Post Office building, which is also undergoing contamination assessment.

The 1913 Post Office building was recently purchased by the North Platte Creativity Unlimited Arts Council, which plans to use a combination of fund-raising money and grant money to renovate the abandoned building.

However, their plans could be delayed considerably if tests show the presence of contamination. NDEQ spokesperson Steve Kemp says the 1913 Post Office building may be contaminated with asbestos and lead-based paint, which may be costly and time-consuming to remove, depending on the extent of the contamination.

In addition, it’s thought that the parking lot behind the Post Office building may be contaminated with chemical left-overs from the dry cleaning business, including trichloroethene (TCE) and tetracholoroethene (PCE). Both chemicals are known cancer-causing agents, and they have been detected in groundwater thought to have run off from the dry cleaning business.

Even worse, with TCE and PCE running through groundwater beneath the city, it’s impossible to predict where the dispersion of the chemicals might end. However, EPA remedial project manger Melvin Brown says that the city’s drinking water is safe because the contaminants affect only shallow wells.

The good news for the Creativity Unlimited Arts Council, according to spokespeople from the EPA, is that the site can be cleaned up with federal grants.

Unfortunately, however, applying for EPA funds will almost certainly delay the project considerable. EPA attorney Robert Richards says it will take around a year to complete assessments of the contaminated properties and grant clean-up funds, if the CUAC chooses to apply for a grant.

One delaying factor is that due to the presence of TCE and PCE as well as asbestos and lead, surrounding properties must also be assessed for contaminants. Because the cancer-causing chemicals have found their way into groundwater, it’s likely that properties near the 1913 Post Office Building and the former dry cleaning site have also been contaminated.

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.