Archive for the ‘New Jersey’ Category

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.

New Jersey - North East Linen, formerly Morey LaRue Laundry Company, has been cited by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration for several alleged health and safety violations after the deaths of two workers last year. Among the fifteen counts are some which relate to the presence of asbestos on the company premises.

The fines, which may reach up to $80,000, will be imposed for violations discovered after the deaths of Victor Diaz Jr. and Carlos Diaz. The two men were assigned to power wash a 20,000 gallon tank which contained dry-cleaning chemicals, but they had not been trained to do the job.

Other allegations include that they were not provided with protective gear, or safety equipment that could have been used to assist in their rescue. The two men died from suffocation while attempting to carry out the work.

OSHA began an investigation on the day the men died. The investigated resulted in fifteen violations, including twelve serious, two other-than-serious, and one willful violation. The fines for the violations total $79,250.

“Serious” citations are those which may cause serious physical harm or death, and which the employer either knew about or should have known about. “Willful” violations are those which an employer commits with indifference or intentional disregard for the safety and health of employees.

Robert D. Kulick, director of OSHA’s Avenel area office said, “North East Linen did not take the appropriate steps to train its employees about potential hazards and to ensure its employees did not enter the waste water tank, which led to this tragedy.”

Louis Ricca Jr., acting administrator for OSHA’s New York region said, “This horrible tragedy underscores the need for all employers to implement effective safety and health management system. It also reinforces the need for employers to provide their employees with appropriate training, direction, personal protective equipment and engineering control, particularly when working in and around confined spaces.”

Among the alleged health and safety violations of North East Linen are failure to provide hazard training, failure to provide adequate egress, failure to effectively prevent employees from entering the waste water tank, and failure to determine the presence and quality of asbestos-containing materials, and failure to label asbestos-containing materials.

From receipt of the citations, North East Linen has fifteen days in which to contest them, after which an independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission is to be held.

Linden, New Jersey - A resident of Linden, New Jersey who claims to have developed a rare type of stomach cancer as a result of her connection to the Bayway Refinery in Linden has won a $7.5 million verdict in a lawsuit against ExxonMobil Corp.

Bonnie Anderson claimed that she had developed a rare form of mesothelioma called peritoneal mesothelioma as a result of being exposed to asbestos. However, unlike most people who pursue asbestos-related legal action, Bonnie Anderson never worked for the company she successfully sued.

In this case, Bonnie Anderson claimed that she was exposed to asbestos because her husband John worked at the Bayway Refinery.

For decades, the lawsuit claimed, Bonnie Anderson was unknowingly exposed to asbestos that her husband had brought home on the clothes he wore at work. John Anderson was employed as a process operator at the Bayway Refinery, which was formerly owned by ExxonMobil.

The lawsuit claimed that in the act of washing her husband’s asbestos-laden clothing, Bonnie Anderson was exposed to asbestos fibers which became airborne during the process.

Asbestos fibers, when inhaled, are known to be the cause of several different forms of asbestos cancer called mesothelioma. The cancer can develop in the lining of the lungs, abdomen, or heart, and in all three cases is highly resistant to treatment. Mesothelioma is a particularly lethal form of cancer; more than 50% of people diagnosed die within two years.

People who develop mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases such as asbestosis are typically those who have worked in occupations where asbestos exposure occurred. Those most at risk include construction workers and industrial workers. Other at-risk groups include people who served in the U.S. Navy.

A small number of cases involve people like Bonnie Anderson, who were exposed in a secondary fashion via contact with someone who worked with or around asbestos. Whether asbestos exposure is direct or indirect, mesothelioma usually takes between three and five decades to develop.

Bonnie Anderson’s lawsuit has been ongoing for several months. Last year, a Middlesex County Superior Court jury found that ExxonMobil was responsible for the development of her cancer. The most recent trial focused on awarding damages. That trial began two weeks ago, and has resulted in the $7.5 million verdict.

An ExxonMobil spokesperson said, “We sympathize with the Andersons, but we operate our businesses with meticulous attention to the health and safety of our employees and others. We are considering our post-trial options, including an appeal.”

New Jersey - A New Jersey appellate panel has ruled that fifteen Spanish workers will be allowed to sue an American company in a New Jersey state court. The Spanish workers claim that they developed asbestos-related diseases while employed to work on United States Navy ships in Spain.

The Spanish workers are attempting to sue manufacturer Owens-Illinois Inc. The New Jersey appellate court ruled in favor 3-0, overturning a lower court’s previous ruling which dismissed the Spanish workers’ lawsuit on jurisdictional grounds.

The workers claim that between 1950 and 1988they were exposed to asbestos in insulation products made at Owens-Illinois plants in New Jersey. They were employed by the Navy or by private contractors, and worked at military installations in Rota or Cadiz which were jointly owned by the United States and Spain. They filed their lawsuit claims in 2004.

John C. Garde, an attorney for Owens-Illinois, said the company had not yet decided whether to appeal the new ruling.

However, he questions the reasoning behind the appeals court’s decision to allow the case to be tried in New Jersey, because the alleged injury occurred overseas, in Spain. “I find it difficult to believe that any New Jersey court would countenance claims remaining in New Jersey that have nothing to do with New Jersey, with plaintiffs who have never even set foot in New Jersey.”

Mitchell S. Cohen, an attorney for the Spanish workers, said the judge who initially dismissed the case should have given the case further consideration because New Jersey is the only court where the case can be tried.

“Spanish law will not allow, under the facts of these cases, to file a claim in Spain.” Spanish law won’t allow the case to be tried in Spain because the injuries alleged by the workers occurred on the Navy warships, which are sovereign United States territory.

The appellate decision also says that the lower court judge should have given further consideration to the reasons behind the Spanish workers’ choosing to file in New Jersey. “We…conclude that the determination to dismiss plaintiffs’ actions in favor of a foreign jurisdiction was a clearly mistaken exercise of the court’s discretion.”

In addition, the panel wrote that Owens-Illinois should not be overburdened by the case because “key corporate evidence and witnesses relating to the development, testing, marketing and sale of [asbestos-containing products] to the U.S. government or military are more likely available in this country.”

Montclair, New Jersey – More than two hundred students and employees were evacuated from Renaissance Middle School on Friday May 16 after asbestos was discovered in the plaster of a newly-installed set of fire doors. Students are ecstatic this week at having a couple of extra days off school, but parents aren’t so happy after discovering that airborne asbestos levels at the school are up to six times higher than permissible.

Although a recent asbestos inspection found in some plaster, it was judged to be not dangerous at that time. However, on Thursday May 15, it was discovered that the asbestos-containing plaster may have been disturbed during the after-hours installation of a set of fire doors. At that point local asbestos consultant Detail Associates was called in to test the school’s air and clean up any problematic asbestos-containing materials.

According to the letter sent home with students “Of the four samples collected, one, taken from the third floor hallway showed a level of airborne asbestos fibers that exceeded the acceptable range.”

“As soon as we were notified of the increased levels of fibers on Friday morning, we sealed off the affected area and moved the children to parts of the building that were cleared by our consultant or to off-site locations. Detail Associates will thoroughly inspect the building this evening and develop a cleaning protocol, which will take place tomorrow. The building will be cleaned and tested until all samples indicate appropriate levels of fibers.”

At a meeting yesterday, however, parents learned that levels of asbestos contamination were up to six times higher than acceptable safe levels, and that the Board of Education has had no environmental safety procedures in place for Renaissance School buildings since the school began ten years ago.

Frank Alvarez, the Montclair School Board Superintendent, told parents that it was safe to send their children back to school, but some parents have said they’re not comfortable doing so.

Concerned parents aren’t just worried about the most recent incident. Several other construction projects have been carried out this year, and some parents are worried about the possibility of other asbestos exposure incidents or health and safety issues that might have arisen.

In a letter from the Renaissance Health and Wellness Committee and PTA to Frank Alvarez, concerned parents said “The lack of foresight, commonsense, and poor judgment about the safety and health of the Renaissance students (and faculty/staff) during construction and the inadequate response to queries poses serious questions about the confidence we can have in the officials charged with our children’s wellbeing during the school day.”
We insist that the students (and suggest that faculty, staff and parents) do not reenter the Munn Street facility until after we are in receipt of the federally mandated safety clearance report on air quality, demonstrating a N/D (none detected level), performed by Detail Associates, an independent, certified asbestos remediator.”

A statement issued by the Montclair Board of Education says that more than fifty samples taken by two independent firms indicate that the building is now safe for students and staff to enter.

Montclair, New Jersey – More than two hundred students and staff members were evacuated from Renaissance Middle School in Montclair, New Jersey on Friday May 16 after asbestos was discovered in the plaster of a newly-installed set of fire doors.

According to Laura Federico, the Montclair Public School District Public Information Officer, most students were relocated to other schools located nearby, where they remained for the rest of the day. Federico said that the safety of students and staff was the most important concern of the school district.

A recent asbestos inspection that was carried out in the school building indicated that asbestos was present in some of the plaster. However, the plaster was judged to be not dangerous at that time.

On Thursday May 15, it was discovered that the asbestos-containing plaster may have been disturbed during recent after-hours installation of a set of fire doors. At that point, Detail Associates, a local asbestos consultant, was called in to test the school’s air and clean up any problematic asbestos-containing materials.

According to the letter sent home with students, when air quality tests were carried out in the building, “Of the four samples collected, one, taken from the third floor hallway showed a level of airborne asbestos fibers that exceeded the acceptable range.”

“As soon as we were notified of the increased levels of fibers on Friday morning, we sealed off the affected area and moved the children to parts of the building that were cleared by our consultant or to off-site locations.”

“Detail Associates will thoroughly inspect the building this evening and develop a cleaning protocol, which will take place tomorrow. The building will be cleaned and tested until all samples indicate appropriate levels of fibers. Detail Associates has advised us that the building will be cleaned, tested and cleared for occupancy by Monday morning.”

Many schools have had asbestos problems this year, including Bethel High School in Connecticut, which had to send students home on more than one occasion when asbestos was discovered during a series of abatement and renovation projects. A preschool in Cary, Illinois was temporarily closed when asbestos was discovered in the walls, and asbestos abatement is an ongoing and expensive project for many schools.

Asbestos was widely used in public, residential, and industrial construction up until the mid-1980s, and many schools built before this period contain asbestos, particularly in insulation and fire-proofing materials.

What to do about the asbestos has become an increasingly serious issue for many schools as those materials deteriorate and become an exposure risk during renovation and remodeling projects.

New Jersey-based textiles manufacturer Congoleum Corp. is to exit Chapter Eleven bankruptcy, with a motions hearing on an exit plan to be heard by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Trenton, N.J.

Congoleum has been involved in thousands of asbestos-related lawsuits and has also sued a number of its own insurers for neglecting to provide coverage on the asbestos claims.

However, some of Congoleum’s insurers, including CNA Financial Corp. and Travelers Cos., object to the company’s proposed exit plan, saying that it goes against currently established bankruptcy law and unfairly favors asbestos claimants.

Congoleum, which manufactures various types of flooring products, manufactured certain asbestos-containing products, such as vinyl floor tiles, until 1983. As a result the company has often been named as a defendant in asbestos-related lawsuits.

In 2002 the company entered into a global settlement that was intended to result all of its current and future asbestos claims. As part of the deal Congoleum agreed to file Chapter Eleven bankruptcy.

In addition, Congoleum agreed to fund the settlement using insurance money, but neglected to consult with any of its insurers when making the deal. Because of this, some of the company’s insurers filed a declaratory judgment action in New Jersey’s state court to request that the court find the insurers’ policies didn’t cover the global settlement Congoleum was attempting.

However, once Congoleum filed for bankruptcy, the declaratory judgment action was automatically stayed, due to bankruptcy laws that prevent parties pursuing actions to obtain money or property from a company that has filed for Chapter Eleven.

In 2007, after a four year battle, the courts decided that the insurers did not have to pay the “prepackaged” insurance claims that Congoleum had negotiated.

These prepackaged deals are often advantageous for companies and attorneys, but are rarely so for genuine victims of asbestos-related disease. For the company negotiating the deal, the advantage is that they can control their exposure more easily than they might otherwise be able to.

Critics of these types of deals argue that they allow unscrupulous lawyers to conceal false claims in class action lawsuits that include hundreds or thousands of plaintiffs. The problems involved in these types of cases have also been highlighted this week by the Manhattan Institute’s report on class action asbestos suits.

East Brunswick, New Jersey – A week-long project to remove asbestos from Hammarskjöld Middle School in East Brunswick, New Jersey is under way. The project is being carried out during the school’s spring break to reduce the possibility of exposure hazards for students and staff.

School district spokeswoman Patricia LaDuca has said that no work was or will be carried out while school is in session, and there will be no safety hazards for children or staff when they return after the spring break.

La Duca said, “The contractors are certified and experienced in this type of work, and licensed professionals will oversee the removal and monitor and test air quality to ensure that the regulatory standards are met.” Parents were told of the planned asbestos removal project in a letter sent earlier in April.

Some district parents have expressed concern about the asbestos removal, but Patricia LaDuca says that “this process is highly regulated by federal, state and OSHA, or Occupational Safety and Health Administration, standards,” and there is no cause for alarm.

The wing in which asbestos is being removed is ultimately planned for demolition over the school’s summer vacation period. However, the asbestos must be removed before demolition can take place, as demolition projects can create and disperse large clouds of asbestos dust if the substance is not removed beforehand.

Asbestos is a naturally-occurring fibrous mineral that was widely used in industry, residential areas, and public buildings such as schools for much of the twentieth century. It is a light-weight yet durable substance with a very high resistance to fire and heat, making it an ideal insulator and fire-proofing material.

However, asbestos is also known to cause cancers such as mesothelioma and lung cancer, as well as a chronic lung condition called asbestosis. Exposure to asbestos can cause serious health problems.

In schools where asbestos is present there is usually no risk of exposure for students and staff. Risks are present only when the asbestos is disturbed, either accidentally or deliberately, as in the case of abatement projects.

In most cases the Environmental Protection Agency recommends leaving asbestos in place rather than disturbing it. Generally removal is recommended only if the asbestos has deteriorated to the point where fibers are likely to be released into the air. In addition, in the case of demolition projects, asbestos must be removed before demolition.

Edison, New Jersey – Remnants of Camp Kilmer, a now-closed military installation that was built during World War II, are being demolished at the Edison Job Corps Academy in New Jersey. There are half a dozen buildings in the cluster.

Job Corps is a federally-funded program that is administered by the Department of Labor. The program provides disadvantaged people aged 16 to 24 with residential academic and vocational training. Currently the Edison Job Corps Academy has around 530 students.

Lee Mathews, director of the Edison Job Corps Academy, said the buildings are in very poor shape, “It was either we tear them down, or they would fall down on their own.” Matthews said the buildings include an old trailer, a storage building, and old barracks that have long been boarded up unused.

Demolition of the buildings began on Wednesday April 23 and is proceeding cautiously due to the presence of asbestos insulation in some of the buildings. Lee Mathews expects the demolition to take around a week. The space will be turned into a recreational area once the demolition is completed.

Job Corps students who are learning construction trades will be helping build the recreation area once the demolition is complete. Plans include the addition of an outdoor volleyball court, seating areas, and a running track.

According to Lee Mathews, the demolition is a federal government project due to the presence of asbestos insulation in many buildings on campus. Strict environmental and public safety procedures have been put in place to make sure people aren’t exposed to asbestos. Most of the buildings being demolished contained only a small amount of asbestos, said Mathews, and some didn’t contain any.

Requirements for the project included hiring a professional asbestos abatement firm to remove asbestos prior to the demolition. Wet-removal procedures, in which asbestos containing materials are thoroughly wetted before being disturbed, are being carried out to reduce the possibility of generating asbestos dust.

Asbestos is a fibrous mineral that was used liberally in construction in the twentieth century due to its excellence as an insulator.

However, because asbestos is known to cause a type of cancer called mesothelioma, as well as other types of cancer and a chronic lung disease known as asbestosis, any procedures that involve working with or around asbestos must be tightly controlled to prevent exposure to the substance.

Montgomery, New Jersey – A second round of asbestos-containing steam pipe removal work has begun at a site near the Village Elementary School in Skillman Village, New Jersey.

Last year, sections of pipe located both above and below ground were removed from the site. After the completion of that section of the project, all the remaining above-ground steam pipe had been removed, leaving only below-ground sections in place.

During the peak years of asbestos use between the 1940s and 1980s, asbestos was often used in pipes, particularly those that conducted heated air or water, as the addition of asbestos provided excellent thermal insulation, making the conduction of heated air or water more efficient.

The current project is being carried out by subcontractor Demolition and Asbestos Removal Inc. of Richmond, Va. The contractor for the work is Weston Solution officials, who presented a plan for the project to the Community Advisory board earlier in April. Weston Solution expects that the project will be finished by the end of the summer.

There are several remaining sections of pipe located in a number of areas around the Village Elementary School. One is located slightly east of the school. According to Community Information Officer Tamara Garaffa, that section will not be removed until after the end of June, when school has finished for the summer.

This is one asbestos removal project that has been planned down to the last detail: school officials say that even unexpected delays won’t prevent the abatement from being completed on time, as they are prepared to hire extra work crews or weekend crews for the project to ensure it is completed before school reopens after summer vacation.

For the current project, the contractor crews involved in removing the asbestos-laden steam piping are trying to work as far away from the Village Elementary School as possible, to prevent any exposure risks. The crew will start at the most distant location from the school and work inwards.

The process of removing the asbestos-laden pipes is designed to eliminate the risk of exposure to asbestos-containing dust, and involves the use of negative air pressure and a protective ‘tent.’ Within the tent, the air pressure is negative, meaning that even if a small hole or rip occurs in the tent, the negative pressure means that any asbestos dust is unable to escape. These measures make the process of asbestos pipe removal much safer, meaning that it is highly unlikely that any environmental contamination will occur.