Asbestos News Roundup: 1.13.11

January 13th, 2011. By LucyC

A roundup of recent asbestos-related news and information that you should be aware of. An ongoing list of asbestos hot spots from the Asbestos News Roundup archive appears on our asbestos map.

Asbestos Lawsuits

St Clair, IL: Dorothy L. Kainer, Kimberly M. Kainer and Lisa K. Foreman have filed an asbestos-related complaint naming 29 defendant companies. They filed the complaint on behalf of recently deceased Emil T. Kainer.

According to the suit, Emil T. Kainer worked as an electrician from 1953 until 1996 and served in the U.S. Army. During the course of his work he was exposed to asbestos-containing products, which caused him to develop asbestos-related disease. Consequently, the complaint states, Emil T. Kainer incurred medical costs and suffered great physical pain and mental anguish. In addition, he became prevented from pursuing his normal course of employment and, as a result, lost large sums of money that would have accrued to him, the plaintiffs claim.

In their suit, the Kainers allege the defendant companies caused Emil T. Kainer to develop mesothelioma after his exposure to asbestos-containing products throughout his career. The suit further claims that the defendants should have known of the harmful effects of asbestos, but failed to exercise reasonable care and caution for the plaintiffs’ relative’s safety. (st.clairrecord.com)

Madison County, IL: An asbestos mesothelioma lawsuit was the first suit filed in 2011 in Madison County. Filed by Arkansas residents Opie Chism and his wife, Bonnie Chism, the suit alleges that during Mr Chism’s work at factories and car service shops throughout Illinois, which began in the 1950s, he was exposed to asbestos. As a result, Opie Chism developed mesothelioma and other asbestos-related health problems. He was diagnosed with mesothelioma in November 2010.

He and his wife are suing Borg Warner and other companies for making the asbestos that led to his disease. (st.clairrecord.com)

Asbestos Hot Spots

Fort Lauderdale, FL: Three judges in Broward County have requested that testing be done in their chambers, for asbestos. The request comes following the death of a fellow judge from lung cancer. The three judges have moved their chambers while the testing takes place.

Testing began last week in part of Broward’s aging courthouse. Attorneys suing the county on behalf of employees claiming exposure to toxic mold are also arranging tests.

On December 2^nd, Circuit Judge Cheryl Aleman died just weeks after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of lung cancer. (Miami Herald)

Lynn , MA:  Four janitors working in at Fecteau-Leary School have discovered they were exposed to asbestos while cleaning up some broken floor tiles. The building which houses the school is 100 years old. The floor tiles were glued down with asbestos-containing mastic.

According to a report in the Daily Item, Michael Donovan, director of the city’s Inspectional Services Department, said the janitors were working a weekend shift when they found broken floor tiles and a puddle of water on the school’s first floor. “They picked up the tiles and put them in barrels,” he said.

Apparently, a steam leak buckled the floor, forcing the tiles to give way. “The tiles popped up and the custodians cleaned up the area,” he said. “It’s an old building. When we saw the situation, I reported the violation to DEP (state Department of Environmental Protection). I turned myself in.”

DEP inspectors conducted tests on the tiles last Saturday and took air samples to determine if asbestos fibers remained in the atmosphere. (The Daily Item)

Coralville , IA: Randy Ward, a well known businessman in Coralville, faces nine counts of air pollution-related violations stemming from the demolition of his flood-damaged apartment complex in 2008.

The Iowa Attorney General’s Office filed a criminal complaint against Ward on December 28^th,2010 , accusing him of mishandling and improperly disposing of demolished material that he knew contained asbestos. In the complaint, Ward is charged with nine aggravated misdemeanors for violating air quality standards, rules or orders issued by the Department of Natural Resources.

Reportedly, Ward had hired a company for an asbestos inspection and also had sent samples to the Iowa Hygienic Laboratory for testing. In both cases, tests showed that asbestos was present in the flood damaged Le Chateau Apartments, located in the 300 block of Fourth Avenue composed of four two-story buildings.

The alleged violations were documented by Marion Burnside, a former coordinator of National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for the Iowa DNR. Burnside visited the demolition site in October 2008, four months after flooding by the Iowa River devastated the area. “I observed no practices were being used to prevent the discharge of dust emissions and no demolition debris was being wetted to prevent further emissions,” Burnside wrote. “I observed dust coming from the demolition activity.”

Reportedly, no one on the site was trained to handle hazardous air pollutants, no effort was being made to keep materials wet to prevent air contamination, and material was being hauled away “as nothing more than construction debris.”

Burnside told the Press-Citizen that records for Iowa City Landfill show that about 1,650 tons of debris transported in 330 dump truck loads were deposited from Le Chateau on dates in October 2008.

The counts against Ward include failing to provide written notice of demolition of a building known to contain asbestos, not removing asbestos-containing material from a facility before demolition began and not depositing all asbestos-containing materials in a waste disposal site operated for that purpose. (press-citizen.com)

Tags: Asbestos, Asbestos Mesothelioma, asbestos_mesothelioma

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