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San Diego - Asbestos & Mesothelioma Resources

On August 31, 2004, contractors hired by the management of Greenfield Mobile Home Estates in San Diego prepared to renovate the neighborhood clubhouse. Throughout the day, they tore up floor and ceiling tiles, tossing them outside and filling black plastic trash bags with them. Thick white dust choked the air, settling on cars and trash cans and picnic tables. At some point during the day, Trisha Valverde, a neighborhood resident, called San Diego's Air Pollution Control District, who sent out an inspector. Initially, the inspector didn't see anything untoward. When he returned the next day, however, he found piles of floor tiles and bags stuffed with ceiling tiles that later tested positive for asbestos. The management companies and contractor involved were fined $27,000 for violating the Clean Air Act. In May 2007, 180 residents of the mobile home park filed a personal injury suit against the three companies.

With a population of 1,266,753, San Diego is the eighth most populous city in the United States. Its economy includes a large component of biotechnology, electronics manufacturing, defense related manufacturing and ship repair and construction, all of them fields where asbestos was widely used. Like many older cities that underwent a population boom after World War II, much of the community consists of post-War construction. Forty-two percent of the buildings in town were built between 1940 and 1969. Another 112,000 buildings - about 25% of the currently standing buildings - were built between 1970 and 1979. In all, over 68% of the buildings in San Diego were built before the acts limiting the use of asbestos in construction were passed. What happened at Greenfield Mobile Homes Estate could happen in any neighborhood in the city.

Statistical Data

San Diego County ranks eighth among the 100 United States counties most affected by asbestos-related illnesses. Between 1979 and 2001, the U.S. government recorded 168 cases of asbestosis in San Diego and 230 cases of mesothelioma. The Environmental Working Group also provides an estimated number of mesothelioma deaths, based on a change in the statistics the first year that the U.S. health department counted mesothelioma deaths separately rather than estimating a percentage based on reported cancer cases. If those figures are correct, then there were 371 cases of mesothelioma in San Diego County in those two decades. The occurrence rate of mesothelioma in San Diego is nearly three times the national average.

Place	Asbestosis	Mesothelioma	Meso High	Total	High
United States	19758	23965	40411	43723	60169
California	2088	2276	3795	4364	5883
San Diego	168	230	371	398	539

** The government did not begin tracking mesothelioma separately as a cause of death until 1998. When they did, the mortality rate nationwide for deaths from mesothelioma more than doubled. The lower number in each range represents an estimated mortality rate based on cancers that were thought to be mesothelioma. The higher range reflects the mesothelioma rate if one assumes that the incidence during the earlier years was actually twice that reflected by government statistics.

Historical Asbestos Exposure Sites

San Diego has numerous known asbestos exposure sites, many of them related to the military presence. The three largest contributors to the city's economy are defense, industrial concerns and tourism, in that order. The Port of San Diego, center of all three economic lynchpins, contains the only major shipbuilding and submarine yards on the West Coast and houses the largest naval fleet in the world. Shipyards, industrial factories, construction and power generation are four of the areas where people have historically been exposed to high levels of asbestos.

Shipyards

San Diego Naval Shipyard

Originally commissioned in 1922, the small repair shipyard at San Diego grew to be one of the busiest and largest naval shipyards in the country. By World War II, a combination of forward-thinking local businessmen and location had propelled the shipyard into position to become the Navy's main repair and building station on the West Coast. Between 1943 and 1945, employees at the shipyard, both enlisted men and civilians, worked on more than 5,100 ships. The San Diego Naval Shipyard has been known by several different names throughout its history, but it has always employed thousands of local men and women, as well as enlisted naval personnel. Anyone who worked at or around the Naval Shipyard before 1980 was very likely exposed to asbestos, particularly if they worked in ship building or repair areas. Even those who worked away from the docks may have been exposed, however, and those who lived with shipyard employees are also at risk for developing mesothelioma or asbestosis.

The list below includes shipyards (and alternate names for them) in and around San Diego where workers were exposed to high levels of asbestos.

• Campbell Shipyard
• Industrial Command U.S. Naval Repair Base
• General Dynamics
• National Steel Shipbuilding (NASSCO)
• Point Loma Naval Submarine Base
• Naval Station (NAVSTA) 32nd Street
• Port Nimitz Naval Base
• San Diego Naval Shipyard
• Southwest Marine Shipyard
• U.S. Navy Troop Transport Ship

Power Plants

San Diego Gas & Electric

Originally established in the late 1800s, San Diego Gas & Electric now serves over 1.4 million customers including all of San Diego. Plants used for power generation have always made extensive use of asbestos for insulation and heat reduction, as well as for fireproofing. This is especially true of plants built between 1940 and 1980, as many of SDG&E's plants were. The asbestos danger was not only in the generating plants. Pipes that carried natural gas and other conduits that carried wiring beneath the streets were also often made of asbestos-containing cement or wrapped in asbestos insulation.

Any person who worked for San Diego Gas & Electric either in a generating plant or in the field, may have been exposed to asbestos in the course of their work. Those who were responsible for plant maintenance, particularly anyone who worked with insulation in any of the power plants, has a heightened risk of developing mesothelioma. In addition, those who were most exposed to asbestos may have carried fibers home on their clothing and unwittingly exposed family and household members.

Construction Sites

Asbestos was widely used in construction from the 1920s through 1980. Many of the public buildings that were erected during those years were built using asbestos-containing materials. This is a partial list of public buildings, including schools, hospitals and office buildings, where workers were exposed to asbestos during construction.

• Mercy County Hospital
• Naval Recruiting Station
• San Diego State University
• University of California at San Diego
• San Diego County Courthouse
• San Diego County Jail
• San Diego Juvenile Courthouse Complex
• San Diego County Mental Health Center
• University of San Diego Hospital
• San Diego Health Services Complex
• San Diego Stadium
• Mount Sinai Hospital
• San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art

Existing Asbestos Exposure Hazards

With the number of older homes and buildings in San Diego, there is an ongoing risk of asbestos exposure in certain occupations. Plumbers, electricians and anyone else who is involved in renovations and repairs in older buildings should be trained to recognize asbestos containing materials, and be trained by employers in how to handle situations when they encounter asbestos in the course of their work. Firefighters and emergency rescue workers may also encounter asbestos during the course of working and around older homes.

While California has many naturally occurring asbestos deposits, the largest hazards to the public in the San Diego area are manmade. In 1998, for instance, San Diego Gas & Electric removed 9 miles of pipes from a former gas holding tank in preparation for selling it. The pipes were insulated with asbestos, and subsequent investigation by regulatory agencies showed that the energy company had not employed safe removal methods, causing an asbestos exposure hazard. Residents of Lemon Grove, which borders the property on the edge of San Diego, are still concerned about the asbestos levels in the soil and about stirring up the asbestos if the plot is developed.

Asbestos in the San Diego News

San Diego Gas & Electric was charged with violations of the Clean Air Act when they removed asbestos wrap and coating from pipes at the Encanto Gas Holder facility without taking proper precautions to prevent asbestos release into the air and the surrounding soil. The company was found guilty in July 2007, but the verdict was set aside in December 2007 on appeal. The appeals court judge agreed that the EPA and the city had used improper testing method and that SDG&E was entitled to a new trial. The utility company faces over $2 million in fines.

Legal Issues

The City of San Diego's Environmental Protection Division handles asbestos management in city facilities. Non-friable asbestos containing materials may be taken to the Miramar landfill, but pre-approval is required. Suspected violations of hazardous waste disposal can be reported to the Environmental Protection Division.

Treatment Centers

Sharp Health Care
10835 Road to the Cure
San Diego, CA 92121

University of California San Diego Moores Cancer Center
200 West Arbor Drive
San Diego, CA 92130
619-543-3325

University of California San Diego Cancer Center
200 W. Arbor Drive
San Diego, CA 92130
(619) 543-3325
Website: http://www.cancer.ucsd.edu

UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center
10833 Le Conte Ave.
San Diego, CA 92130
(800) 825-2631
Website: http://www.cancer.mednet.ucla.edu

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