Asbestos News Roundup: 10.21.10

October 21st, 2010. By LucyC

A roundup of recent asbestos-related news and information that you should be aware of.

Veterans and Asbestos

Montpelier, VT: The federal government is implementing a plan to ensure that the state’s Veterans are not put at risk for mesothelioma and other asbestos-related illnesses. A $3.1 million grant from the Department of Veterans Affairs has been earmarked to help prevent mold and asbestos from contaminating the state’s Veterans’ Home in Bennington. 

The estimated cost of renovations to the aging building is $5 million, 65 percent of which will come from the VA. This grant is part of over $360 million the VA expects to spend helping Vermont’s 55,000 veterans this year. (wcax.com) 

Asbestos Law

Bloomfield, NM: Advantage Asphalt Seal & Coating LLC has been served with an administrative compliance order issued by the New Mexico Environment Department, in the amount of $817,000.

The company is facing allegations that it improperly handled, labeled, contained, transported and disposed of more than 1,000 cubic yards of material containing asbestos waste.

According to a report in the New Mexico Business Weekly, The Environment Department claims Advantage dumped the toxic waste at numerous sites, “including a dumpster at a high school, in a dumpster at another waste hauler’s operations yard, and on the ground at an auction yard in Bloomfield frequented by the public.”

In 2009, Advantage contracted with the city of Bloomfield to perform utilities work in the North Frontier Street project in Bloomfield. The work involved breaking, crushing and abrading water pipe remnants, which contained asbestos. The pipe was excavated from the roadway and mixed with soils.

The excavated material contained substantially more than one percent asbestos and had to be classified as a special waste requiring unique disposal requirements under state solid waste rules. (Newmexico businessweekly.com)

Asbestos Health Study – Road Workers Exposed to Erionite Gravel at Risk for Lung Disease

Bismarck, ND: According to the results of a new health study, road workers and related maintenance workers who experience long-term exposure to erionite gravel are at risk for lung problems.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency and the State Health Department, who performed the study of 34 people who have been exposed to erionite gravel in the Killdeer Mountain area, the study results show a substantial, but not overwhelming health effect.

The study found that four people have some damage to their lung tissue from breathing the asbestos-like fibers in erionite and of those four, two have some damage to the lining of their lungs.

Although those numbers represent between 6 percent and 12 percent of the total, small numbers relative to the study, they are far greater than would be found in random testing.

As part of the study participants underwent both chest X-rays and high resolution lung scans.

The study was prompted by the discovery of a possible link between lung disease and erionite in Turkey, where use of building stone containing erionite has caused a high rate of mesothelioma.

Until recently, the distinctive white gravel had been widely used on private and public roads in the Killdeer Mountain area and in Stark and Slope counties, where there are similar gravel outcroppings.

Dr. Steve Pickard, a state health department consultant, urged caution in putting too much emphasis on the result, because of the small number of participants. And he emphasized no cancer was found in the study participants. He said people with lung damage from erionite don’t have any symptoms and nor is any treatment required at this time, though their future condition can’t be entirely certain. “It’s not threatening to their health,” he said. “The chances that these participants will have a problem is small.”

The people in the study found to have lung problems were exposed to the gravel either from working in the gravel pits or on road maintenance over a period of many years.

The State Health Department will continue to recommend that no one use erionite-containing gravel for roads, parking lots or other purposes. The State Department of Transportation bans it from any state-funded projects.

Currently, there are no federal regulations governing the use of erionite, but Scott Radig, who directs waste management for the department, said that  recommendations will remain in effect while the situation gets more review. He said the possibility of having counties remove gravel from road, or covering it completely will be discussed. The city of Killdeer has removed erionite gravel from public parking lots and counties are using other gravel sources. (bismarcktribune.com)

Tags: Asbestos, Asbestos Mesothelioma

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