California (CA) Mesothelioma and Asbestos Exposure

Due to its geologic history and location, several types of asbestos occur naturally within California's state lines. The most common form is chrysotile asbestos (known as white asbestos), which accounts for roughly 95 percent asbestos found in American buildings. Chrysotile asbestos forms in serpentine rock, a metamorphic rock that forms from pressure over time. Located at the convergence of two tectonic plates, California is rich in serpentine rock. California is so abundant in this metamorphic material that it named serpentine its state rock in 1965, and was actually the first state to designate a state rock. Serpentine rock and its parent substance, ultramafic rock, are found in great abundance along fault lines, the Sierra foothills, the Klamath Mountains, and the Coast Ranges of California.

Aside from chrysotile, another form of naturally occurring asbestos (NOA) in California is tremolite asbestos, which is found in ultramafic rock along fault lines. Both forms of asbestos are highly toxic, and exposure to these minerals may lead to the development of serious diseases, such as asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma cancer. For tens of thousands of years people have made California's boarders their home, as the first settlers migrated over the Bering land bridge as many as 12,000 to 25,000 years ago. Many generations have lived out their lives above California's naturally occurring asbestos without greatly disturbing the material. But mankind's recent industrial ingenuity, has led to immense human development and migration, and as the most populous state in the United States of America, California's ever-growing developmental demands are disturbing the state's natural asbestos resources. Left undisturbed, serpentine and ultramafic rock provide safe harbor for asbestos fibers. However, microscopic asbestos fibers are easily released when these rocks are disturbed in any way, especially during development and construction.

Even though mankind has been aware of asbestos' health hazards since the time of the Greeks, it wasn't until 1990 that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) began to regulate the amount of asbestos in crushed serpentine and ultramafic rock used in surfacing applications (such as gravel on unpaved roads). With an original limit of asbestos contamination (in rock and soil for surfacing) set at 5 percent, the CARB revised the allowable limit to less than 0.25 percent in 1998. The board also added regulations regarding dust emissions from construction, grading, and surface mining in areas with serpentine and ultramafic rock. The California Environmental Protection Agency reports several sources of naturally occurring asbestos emissions: unpaved roads or driveways surfaced with ultramafic or serpentine rock, construction activity in ultramafic or serpentine rock deposits, or rock quarrying activities where ultramafic or serpentine rock is present.

Residential & Recreational Asbestos Exposure

Occurring naturally in 44 of California's 58 counties, asbestos deposits are found most abundantly in and around Humboldt, San Benito, Monterey, and El Dorado counties. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a long history of minimizing the risk from asbestos in many of California's counties, such as Alameda, Calaveras, Fresno, Los Angeles, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Benito, and San Mateo counties. Despite the EPA's measures to protect California's citizens, and despite geologic knowledge of the state's NOA, a flourishing community in El Dorado County was constructed atop a sizable deposit of asbestos.

A land of elevated, rolling hillsides and breathtaking scenery, where the state's Central Valley slides into the Sierra foothills, the community of El Dorado Hills is nothing short of picturesque. Renowned for its high median income and low crime, Money Magazine ranked El Dorado Hills No. 77 on its "Best Places to Live: Top 100" in 2007. Construction and development of the community was in full swing by the 1970s, and by the 1990s, El Dorado Hills featured pristine golf courses, great schools, a Tuscan-inspired central shopping district, and a sinuous network of gated communities.

In February 2002, during the constructions of two new soccer fields at the community's Oak Ridge High School, veins of minerals bearing asbestos were discovered. When a citizen petitioned the EPA to test for asbestos, the EPA decided to assess the threat of NOA in the area - regardless of strong opposition from some civic leaders in El Dorado Hills. In October 2004, donning protective white jumpsuits and safety respirators, EPA agents played in parks as local children would, tossing balls, kicking soccer balls around, biking and running - all the while taking air samples. More than 450 air samples were taken throughout the community, and in May 2005 the EPA released its findings. Almost every one of the samples contained asbestos fibers. Oddly enough, the EPA didn't feel it necessary to detail the results, as the report does not specify the toxicity level of samples, nor does it clearly quantify the potential health risks to residents. Instead, the report simply states that test results and exposure levels are "of concern."

Another location of EPA focus in California is the Clear Creek Management Area (CCMA), an enormous and extremely popular area of recreational land. Geologists are not surprised by the EPA's concern for the area, as CCMA is located on one of the world's largest naturally occurring asbestos deposits. Each year, thousands of visitors enjoy CCMA's scenic landscape, rugged terrain, barren slopes, bald ridges, and unique ecology. The 70,000-acre area encompasses a 30,000-acre deposit of serpentine rock, and holds a rich history in the mining industry. In September 2004, the EPA began the first of four sampling events at CCMA.

Sporting protective clothing, safety respirators, and air monitoring equipment, crews of federal contractors and the U.S. Coast Guard's Pacific Strike Team took air samples while riding ATVs and dirt bikes, hiking, driving SUVs, pitching tents, and other common activities guests enjoy at CCMA. When compared to health standards, test results revealed recreational users of the management area are exposed to "very high" levels of asbestos. The EPA's website states samples taken in November 2004 and February 2005 are currently being analyzed, and that a final report will be released after the final sampling event (which was scheduled for July 2006). Though 2008 has arrived, no final report or updated information has been made available by the EPA.

Industrial Use of Asbestos in California

Known for its profitable industrial history, California bears a strong industrial economy, in areas such as mining, shipbuilding, and power generation. Due to the intrinsically hot operations, power generation plants have found many uses for asbestos, as the material is very heat and fire resistant. And as the most populous state in the county, numerous powerhouses have supplied electricity to the citizens of California. However, this electricity has come with an unexpected cost, as many power generation plants have posed an asbestos exposure threat to industrial workers, such as the Diablo Canyon Power Plant in Avila Beach, the Pacific Gas & Electric Power Plant in Eureka, and P.G.E. Power Plants in San Francisco, Moro Bay, and Pittsburg.

In addition to the power generation industry, the mining industry also created a strong foundation in California. Thousands of holes in the surface serve as a reminder the mining industry's impact, as the California Department of Conservation reports there are at least 39,000 abandoned mines throughout the state. Though commercial mining of asbestos ended just recently in 2002, its legacy is ever-present in the state of California. For example, the abandoned Coalinga Asbestos Mine, located approximately 16 miles from the city of Coalinga, covers 120 acres with partially demolished mill buildings, open-pit mines, and remnants of a once-thriving business. Just three miles away lies another apparitional mine site, the Atlas Asbestos Mine. Encompassing 435 acres, this mine was in operation from 1963 through 1979 and, along with the Coalinga Asbestos Mine, was known to transport milling and mining products into the city of Coalinga. Both mines are EPA-designated superfund sites (a designation reserved for the country's most contaminated sites), and though both sites have undergone cleanup measures in the past, the EPA's policy now has stricter regulations on levels of asbestos contamination and the sites, and the city of Coalinga as well, must be reassessed.

Another lucrative industry in California with an extensive history in asbestos usage is the shipbuilding industry. This industry experienced a nationwide boom during World War II, when demand for vessels was extremely high. To supply the war effort, countless shipyards across the country went into high production and many new shipyards opened for business. One of most renowned shipyards in the county, the Long Beach Naval Shipyard was a major facility that covered more than 200 acres and employed more than 17,000 during its height of operations. By the 1930s, asbestos had become an avidly popular and hailed material in the shipbuilding industry, and thousands of workers at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard were exposed while constructing, renovating, destructing, or repairing vessels.

Another naval shipbuilding operation in California is the San Diego Naval Base and Shipyard (SDNBS). Commissioned in 1922 by Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. (the acting secretary of the Navy at that time), this shipyard has become the largest naval instillation on the U.S. West Coast. Like the Long Beach Naval Shipyard, the SDNBS experienced an increase in operation during the World War II years, and also exposed numerous workers to asbestos containing materials. Yet another naval shipyard, the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard (located in San Francisco) was established in 1869 and closed its doors in 1991. Unlike other naval shipyards, Hunters Point's heydays came in the 1950s and not during the Second World War. Complaints of improper hazardous waste disposal in 1986 spawned an EPA investigation and cleanup that continues today. The Todd Pacific Shipyard company, which holds quite a history in asbestos usage, also found quite a home in California, and has operated shipyards in Los Angles, Oakland, and San Francisco.

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