Asbestos News Roundup: 7.22.11

July 22nd, 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 News

Asbestos, PQ: The infamous Canadian asbestos mine—the Jeffrey Mine in Asbestos, Quebec could be mothballed indefinitely as of November 13, if talks to keep the mine going don’t produce results soon.

The Jeffrey Mine is Canada’s only fully operational asbestos mine, and is in negotiations with LAB Chrysotile and the union representing the mine’s 350 employees to get the mine up and running again. The Harper government’s decision to allow funding for the mine comes despite international outrage and lobby from organizations including the Canadian Cancer Society. Further, Steven Harper’s government recently blocked a United Nations motion to have asbestos declared a carcinogen.

Simon Dupéré, president of LAB Chrysotile in Thetford Mines told the Montreal Gazette “A shutdown will be necessary on November 13 if we can’t come to an agreement, but both parties want to avoid that, and both parties are willing to collaborate very closely to avoid it.”

The Jeffrey Mine is an open pit asbestos mine and functions for only a few months each year because it’s nearly exhausted. Its owners are hoping to get a loan guarantee from the Quebec government in order to expand into an underground operation, but the government wants to see private financing in place by August 15, or the loan guarantee offer will expire. (Montreal Gazette)

Fort Branch, IN: The charred remains of a meat packing plant in Emge will be cleaned up by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency because it contains asbestos and the plant’s owner refused to do it.

The EPA’s project manager, Kevin Turner, said the EPA has budgeted $400K for the clean-up, which is scheduled to being mid-August. It will likely take four to eight weeks.

“We have engaged the owner to clean it up and he refused,” Turner said. “There is a civil process we go through. Under the law he can say he will do it or not do it but that doesn’t relieve him of any liability or financial responsibility.”

According to a report in the Evansville Courier & Press, regulations in the state of Indiana regulations allow asbestos containing materials to be disposed in licensed municipal landfills but require they be sealed in airtight containers before disposal. According to Turner, the asbestos in the Emge plant was in the insulation and transite which is a material used in wallboard. (evansvillecourierandpress.com)

Detroit, MI: Two men from Bay County are facing federal charges for their alleged mishandling of asbestos while overhauling a former auto manufacturing plant near Utica.

Brian Waite, 38, the project manager, and his colleague Daniel Clements 49, an on-site supervisor, had been contracted to remove fixtures and pipes that contained asbestos from the plant which is located in Macomb County’s Shelby Township.

While federal regulations require asbestos to be wetted down and kept wet before and during its removal, the two men allegedly “directed workers to tear down the asbestos-containing material while it was dry, and to place (it) into plastic bags without wetting it,” according to the indictment. Clements allegedly told the workers onsite to “let it fly,” letting them kick or throw the materials to the waste area at ground level. From there, the indictment claims, Waite and Clements instructed the workers to load dry asbestos into commercial trash containers and cover it with bags of debris that had been wetted.

Waite and Clements have each been charged with two counts of violating the Clean Air Act and one count of conspiring to commit that crime. (mlive.com)

Tags: Asbestos, Asbestos Mesothelioma, asbestos_mesothelioma

This was posted on Friday, July 22nd, 2011 at 7:17 am and is filed under Asbestos Mesothelioma . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.