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San Jose - Asbestos & Mesothelioma Resources

In late August 2007, the residents of the sleepy little Alviso subdivision of San Jose shared their streets and playgrounds with EPA workers in hazmat suits carrying monitoring equipment. The EPA was not responding to an emergency, nor, they said, was there any danger to the population of Alviso. Instead, they were following up on asbestos cleanup that had been completed more than a decade earlier, after the entire neighborhood had been declared a Superfund cleanup site.

Unlike many other Superfund sites, where the contamination is the result of years of concentrated abuse by one or two companies, Alviso's asbestos problems arose from an attempt to control another natural disaster. Following severe flooding in 1983, San Jose built a two mile long natural stone levee to contain the flood waters. Unfortunately, the city used rock from the Raisch Quarry in San Jose, which contains almost 40% naturally occurring asbestos. The city and Raisch were ordered to remove the contaminated soil, and it was entombed beneath a bridge embankment. The EPA also found high levels of asbestos in four dirt parking lots, and in three dump sites that accepted broken pipes and other waste containing asbestos from Keasby & Mattison and Certainteed, Co., a perennial asbestos defendant. As a result of the contamination, tests done in 1987 found that the asbestos levels in the air were six times higher than in the surrounding community.

The EPA completed cleanup at the Alviso site in 1996, and returned in 2007 to follow up with more sensitive tests to confirm that they had removed the source of exposure and made the city safer. This is not the first time that the EPA has returned, though. In 2003, on a follow-up visit, the agency discovered that the sealant over one of the capped levees had deteriorated and was releasing asbestos into the air. They reached an agreement with the city to permanently remove the asbestos contaminated soil, and the city paid $245,000 toward the cleanup costs.

With a population of 929,936 (est. 2006), San Jose is the tenth largest city in the United States and the third largest in California. It is also the county seat of Santa Clara County, at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay area. Much of the city's housing and infrastructure was built in the post-World-War II era, to accommodate returning soldiers and veterans who had fallen in love with the area while being stationed nearby. The city took full advantage of the influx of population, and followed an aggressive expansion plan that created more than 65% of the city's current housing stock and most of its public buildings and infrastructure.

Those years were, of course, also the years when asbestos was widely used in all sorts of construction, from single family homes to government buildings, hospitals and jails. Like most cities with an industrial base and a history of burgeoning growth in the post-war year, San Jose carries a legacy of its history in heightened risk of asbestos exposure and mortality.

Statistical Data

Although California ranks fist in the nation for asbestos-related mortality, Santa Clara County, where San Jose is located, ranks 49th among the 100 counties most affected by mesothelioma and asbestosis. The Environmental Working Group, which has compiled official U.S. mortality data, states that the deaths officially attributed to asbestos probably account for less than 20% of all asbestos-related deaths between the years 1979 and 2001.

Place	Asbestosis	Mesothelioma	Meso High	Total	High
United States	19758	23965	40411	43723	60169
California	2088	2276	3795	4364	5883
Santa Clara	43	93	157	136	200

** 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

Alviso South Bay Superfund Site

The history of the Alviso site is given above. While neighbors point out that there has not been a single confirmed mesothelioma or asbestosis death in Alviso, and the EPA agrees that there is no elevation of lung cancer statistics in the community, it is important to keep in mind that asbestos-related diseases have an atypically long latency period. The levee, a major source of the asbestos contamination, was only built in 1986, and in place for ten years. Anyone who worked on the construction of the levee or spent significant time there after it was built should be aware that they may have been exposed to asbestos, and that the results may not become evident for another ten to twenty years.

Landfills

The Santos Landfill, the Leslie Salt Landfill, and the Sainte Claire Corporation Landfill, all located in Alviso, received asbestos-contaminated cement and concrete waste from 1953 until 1982. Anyone who worked or played in or around the landfill may have been exposed to asbestos fibers in the air. In addition, the EPA reports that some residents may have used crushed rock from the landfills to filter water and provide drainage for their properties before gutters and curbs were built.

Construction Sites

Many buildings and complexes erected between 1940 and 1980 were built with materials that were treated with or contained asbestos. Nearly anyone who worked in the construction trades during those years was very likely exposed to asbestos, particularly if they worked with drywall, ceiling and floor tiles, asbestos siding, asbestos adhesives or "mud", also known as joint compound, finishing compound and plaster compound. The following buildings are known to contain asbestos, and those who worked on site were exposed to asbestos.

General Electric Pacific Telephone Building San Jose State University Santa Clara Fairgrounds Santa Teresa Medical building

Existing Asbestos Exposure Hazards

Raisch Quarry - Communication Hill Planned Community

Raisch Quarry, located in San Jose, is a rock quarry with thick veins of naturally occurring asbestos. The quarry has been at the center of asbestos controversies for nearly two decades. The controversy sparked higher when rock from the quarry used to build the levee at Alviso was found to contain 40% asbestos. There have been reports that quarry rock contains asbestos in concentrations as high as 70%. The EPA regulates asbestos containing materials that have more than 1% asbestos.

Despite the well-known public history, as of 1999, no one was testing the air or the soil at the quarry for asbestos, even though 14 people had died of mesothelioma in the ten years previous. In the years since, developers have been granted approval to grade Communication Hill and build a planned community there, despite concerns about asbestos in the dirt and rock. In 2003, the Metro, a local San Jose paper, reported on possible violations of stringent control standards to which developers had agreed. While tests showed no elevation of asbestos in the air after a rain of 'amber dust', neighbors and environmental experts are concerned about health effects on those living in the area as development continues.

Treatment Centers

University of California, San Francisco
UCSF Medical Center at Mount Zion,
2200 Post St., MZ Bldg C
San Francisco, CA. 94143-1724
http://www.ucsfhealth.org/

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