Asbestos In Your Area

Asbestos in the State of Arizona

Asbestos Exposure in Arizona

The American Toxic Substances and Disease Registry published a map that showed that there is a large asbestos industry in Arizona that is primarily concentrated around Tucson. In Arizona during the 50s and 60s, there were several asbestos mines operated by American Asbestos Mines, a division of Arizona Asbestos Inc. The Asbestos Institute is located in Phoenix, Arizona, and is one of the largest training facilities in the United States for asbestos management and abatement.

With much asbestos mining and manufacturing going on in Arizona, it's not a surprise that asbestos related diseases have deeply affected this state. Even the infamous W.R. Grace & Company - the plight of Libby, Montana, touches Arizona where a vermiculite packing plant was located. The people who worked at this plant, called Solomon's Mines, are at a high risk for asbestos exposure and thusly asbestos-related diseases such as mesothelioma and asbestosis.

At-Risk Occupations and Locations in Arizona

Throughout Phoenix-Scottsdale, Tucson and Yuma, there are seven major power generating plants and three copper smelting operations that used asbestos. Most of these major industries have made a great effort to clean up the asbestos in their plants, however for people who worked in these industries before 1990; the risk of asbestos exposure is quite high. Subsequently, other operations in the area, such as the Solomon's Mines as stated above also had high asbestos exposure rates. Statistics also show that there were at least 2,249 shipments (approximately 212,458 tons) of vermiculite (containing harmful asbestos) shipped from Libby, Montana to two locations in Arizona between 1948 and 1993.

Many people that live in Arizona assume that asbestos related diseases are only concerning people who worked in the copper mines. However, there are many at risk occupations in Arizona which includes mills, factories and construction sites which also had asbestos exposure risks. Arizona ranked number eight between 1948 and 1993 for the number of tons that were received from Libby Montana. Due to this high number, many people have been exposed to asbestos, either first or second hand, and most of it is due to this large volume of vermiculite from Libby.

Legal Resources for Arizona Residents

In Arizona, the laws that are specific to asbestos and related diseases are covered under Title 36, Article 2, Section 36 to 134, which basically states that reports on asbestosis and mesothelioma are reportable to the department. Title 23 of the same statute is also clear on the obligations of employers and employees. It states that employers shall provide employment which is free from recognized hazards and that each of the employees must comply with safety and health standards.

The statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit against a company for an asbestos related disease is two years. However Arizona law does not state anything specifically about asbestos-disease related lawsuits. The statute of limitations two years begins when the disease was discovered.

Throughout the 80s, there were many lawsuits against many of the Arizona mines. Asarco, a Tucson-based copper producer owned and operated a few copper mines in Arizona and has been involved in mesothelioma and asbestosis lawsuits since 1983. Asarco filed bankruptcy in 2005 and settlements from old lawsuits are still pending. Other lawsuits have also generated some public interest, including a Phoenix industry official who pled guilty in 2006 for failure to comply with hazardous material packaging requirements before transporting asbestos, failing to train his employees in how to handle asbestos and for failing to provide his employees with protective gear when demolishing a commercial building that contained asbestos. He paid $75,000 in restitution to the employees and $2,000 in fines, receiving three years of probation.

A more recent lawsuit was filed against the city of Winslow, a city administrator, and a former apartment complex owner, by the United States Department of Justice in June 2007. The charges are for improper asbestos removal when nine apartment buildings were demolished. It is said that this is one of the worst violations of asbestos removal in the area. If they are found guilty, they could be looking at civil penalties of $27,500 per day for each of five violations, and according to history, chances are good that these defendants will be charged for their misdeeds.

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