Posts Tagged ‘ WR Grace ’
Asbestos News Roundup: 4.18.13 – Asbestos in Schools, Libby Delays
April 18th, 2013. By LucyC
A roundup of recent asbestos-related news and information that you should be aware of. An ongoing list of reported asbestos hot spots in the US from the Asbestos News Roundup archive appears on our asbestos map.
School Kids at Risk for Asbestos Exposure?
Building materials and insulation such as drywall, floor/ceiling tile, applied fireproofing spray, and piping/boiler insulation used in the construction of schools prior to 1980, frequently contained asbestos.
While undisturbed asbestos materials generally do not pose a health risk to students and teachers, over time they can become hazardous due to deterioration or damage.
If asbestos containing materials are disturbed, (e.g. during the installation, maintenance, or removal process), asbestos fibers may become airborne and pose a health threat to students, teachers and other employees within the schools. Once asbestos fibers are inhaled or swallowed, the risk of getting an asbestos related disease, such as asbestosis or mesothelioma, also increases. Student exposure to asbestos in schools is particularly concerning because once the fibers accumulate in the lungs, the latency period between asbestos exposure and the onset of symptoms can take as long as 20 to 50 years.
The federal government has been regulating the use of asbestos in schools since the 1980′s. Schools now have regulatory requirements and management plans to reduce the risk of potential asbestos exposure for students and teachers. However, until the presence of asbestos in schools is eliminated entirely, many believe it will continue to pose a health risk.
Asbestos Lawsuits
Charleston, WV: William Eugene Miller, from Wheelersburg, Ohio, is suing 60 companies he alleges caused his lung cancer.
Miller was diagnosed with the asbestos-related illness on April 21, 2011. According to his asbestos lawsuit, the defendants exposed Miller to asbestos and/or asbestos-containing products during his employment as a laborer from 1947 until 1995, according to a suit. The defendants are being sued based on theories of negligence, contaminated buildings, breach of expressed/implied warranty, strict liability, intentional tort, conspiracy, misrepresentation and post-sale duty to warn, according to the lawsuit.
Chicago, IL: A developer renovating a nursing home in uptown Chicago is facing an asbestos lawsuit brought by Attorney General Lisa Madigan. The eight-count lawsuit cites environmental violations related to the faulty removal of asbestos from the nursing home by Somerset Place Realty, the new owner of the property at 5009 N. Sheridan Rd.
Developer Zidan Management Group and general contractor Dubai, Inc., were also named in the lawsuit, which seeks $400,000 in damages ABC7Chicago reported.
“Unfortunately, careless mishandling of this dangerous substance posed a health threat,” Madigan said in a release Wednesday. “This legal action will ensure the workers take appropriate precautions and the contractors effectively clean up the location.”
Both city health inspectors and inspectors with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency) allegedly saw workers “wearing only paper respirators,” and indicated they “were not dressed properly for asbestos removal,” according to Madigan’s office.
The workers were also “removing pipe insulation, tile and mastic containing asbestos without enclosures and without following the proper wetting procedures,” Madigan’s office said.
Madigan’s complaint against Zidan, Somerset and Dubai alleged “substantial danger to the environment, air pollution, violation of asbestos inspection, emission control and disposal procedures, and violations regarding state and local notification of asbestos removal.” (ABC7chicago.com)
EPA Comes Under Fire for Libby, Montana Cleanup
Billings, MT: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is coming under fire by internal investigators for “years of delays” in completing health studies that are necessary to inform the ongoing cleanup at the infamous asbestos mining town of Libby.
Hundreds of people living in and around Libby have died from asbestos exposure resulting directly from the mining activities of WR Grace, which mined vermiculite asbestos and made insulation from it, for years.
In 2009, the area where Libby is, some 50 miles from the US-Canada border, was declared a public health emergency, but that was 10 years after federal regulators initially responded to concerns over asbestos dust that came from a WR Grace vermiculite mine. The insulation was used in millions of US homes.
To date, the cleanup has cost at least $447 million, and it will continue, with between 80 and 100 properties remaining to be remediated this year and several hundred still waiting for remediation dates.
Meanwhile, Libby remains under a public health emergency declaration issued by then-EPA administrator Lisa Jackson in 2009. Deaths resulting from the WR Grace asbestos exposure will likely continue for decades due to the long latency of asbestos-related diseases. As for the mine itself, cleanup work has only just begun. WR Grace closed the mine in 1990 and filed bankruptcy, but the mine remains its responsibility. (Associated Press)
Asbestos News Roundup: 1.19.12
January 20th, 2012. By LucyC
A roundup of recent asbestos-related news and information that you should be aware of. An ongoing list of reported asbestos hot spots in the US from the Asbestos News Roundup archive appears on our asbestos map.
Asbestos Settlements
Manitoba, Canada: Several Manitoba property owners received class action settlement monies this week totalling nearly $5 million. The payments are part of a legal settlement between Pinchin Environmental Ltd. and asbestos manufacturer Federal Mogul that was more than eight years long.
According to the Winnipeg Free Press, the plaintiffs owned buildings that contained a type of asbestos fireproofing material called Limpet. Limpet was used extensively in Canadian buildings in the latter half of the last century. The largest award – $700,000 – went to Winnipeg Airports Authority, which is in the process of demolishing an old terminal. The Canadian Wheat Board was another large award recipient, getting $198,000 as compensation. Its Main Street head offices underwent extensive renovation over the past decade, including expensive asbestos abatement, the Winnipeg Free Press writes. The WFP also states “The Canadian involvement in the U.S. settlement is unique in a few ways. Pinchin officials say the legal claims would likely have failed had they been presented in Canadian court. The Canadian participation was not instigated by the property owners, but by Pinchin’s own efforts. About 70 percent of the $32-million eventual settlement will go to Canadian building owners. And of that Canadian component, about 25 percent will be distributed to Manitoba claimants.” (Winnipegfreepress.com)
Asbestos Hot Spots
Former Workers at the Silico and Southwest Vermiculite Co Plants at Risk for Asbestos-related Diseases.
Albuquerque, NM: Federal contractors began removing asbestos-contaminated soil at two sites in Albuquerque this week, where fireproof insulation was manufactured for decades. Dressed in protective suits and using heavy equipment, the men are scraping up the contaminated soil. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must remove some 5,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil from the former Silico Inc. plant located at 5119 Edith NE. Soil removal is also underway at a smaller site located at 1822 First NE. The site was used by the Southwest Vermiculite Co. The popular fireproof insulation was sold under the brand names Zonalite and Texas Vermiculite, and was distributed across New Mexico to insulate attics and walls.
But along with the soil removal come questions about the health of former employees at the plants, as well as the location of some 68,000 tons of asbestos-tainted vermiculite imported to New Mexico from 1967 to 1988 for use in making the insulation.
The vermiculite came from the W.R. Grace mine in Libby, Montana, which shipped tons of asbestos-contaminated vermiculite by rail to plants across the country. The mine closed in 1990. The employees who worked in the plants and loaded and unloaded the vermiculite ore would have been at greatest risk for asbestos exposure, said Mike McAteer, the EPA’s on-site coordinator. “I have no doubt there would have been fiber getting kicked up during this loading operation,” McAteer said. He recommended anyone who believes he or she may have been exposed to asbestos to contact a health provider.
According to the report in the Albuquerque Journal, Bernalillo County environmental health officials plan to identify employees who worked at the plants and notify them about potential health risks, Kitty Richards, an agency program manager, said at a public meeting Tuesday. (Albuquerquejournal.com)
Asbestos Companies Covers Blown—Decades Too Late
May 26th, 2010. By janem
As early as the 1930s executives at companies where asbestos was mined and/or used have been covering up the dangers of asbestos disease to their employees. These execs didn’t suffer from asbestosis or die from mesothelioma; instead they wrote thousands upon thousands of death sentences by hiding or destroying asbestos warning memos from doctors, unions and even insurance companies.
Instead, they paid off many sick workers and made them promise never to tell their co-workers about their disease. Recently, some of these hidden documents have been found and you can read this one online. They are chilling, to say the least, and prove without a doubt that these despicable companies knew and concealed the hazards of asbestos for decades.
“…if you have enjoyed a good life while working with asbestos products, why not die from it.” – 1966 memo by the Director of Purchasing for Bendix Corporation, now a part of Honeywell, to Canadian Johns Manville Co. in Asbestos, Quebec.
The Trinity of Evil: Bendix Corporation, Manville and W.R. Grace.
Manville filed for bankruptcy in 1982 after settling so many asbestos liability claims. This is a convoluted story, so please bear with me: In 1986 a judge approved a settlement that created the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust to settle asbestos claims.
Manville’s liability insurers, of which Travelers was the primary, contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to the trust in exchange for immunity from future claims related to Manville’s liability insurance policies. This arrangement was subsequently in more than 40 other asbestos cases and Congress wrote it into law. It also meant that asbestos claimants and others who were a part of the 1986 agreement could not make future claims or challenge the bankruptcy.
In 2001, new plaintiffs sued Travelers of conspiring with Manville to hide the dangers of asbestos from the public. One of the plaintiffs was Chubb Indemnity Insurance Co, an asbestos industry liability insurer with its own asbestos claims.
In 2004 Travelers paid $500 million to the plaintiffs in exchange for an order from the bankruptcy court that the original 1986 agreement barred future lawsuits. Just two months ago, a ruling by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals reversed rulings by a district court and bankruptcy court related to Travelers’ involvement with Johns Manville Corp and Chubb can now sue Travelers Insurance Cos-because Chubb was not a part of that 1986 agreement, unlike countless asbestos victims.
Grace is doubly despicable. Not only did it know in 1960 when it took over the Libby mine that vermiculate could kill people-and continues to potentially harm about 30 million Americans who have the product in their homes-the company didn’t even file for bankruptcy honestly. In May 2002, the Justice Department charged that Grace “removed billions of dollars of assets against which parties who were injured or damaged by Grace’s asbestos-containing material had claims”. Grace could get slapped with a $280 million fine and executives may face up to 70 years in prison.
One can only hope their cells are contaminated with asbestos fibers
Max Did It His Way for Libby
December 29th, 2009. By Hunter West
The final vote on what will be an historic event precluding the passage of President Obama’s health care bill Christmas Eve was preceded by a close vote in the Senate in the wee hours last Monday morning. It passed by the slimmest of margins—and that’s after weeks of lobbying and wrangling individual senators to gain their support.
The Republicans have been crying foul. Other critics say that the bill reeks of political pork and pet projects in exchange for support and precious votes. 
On the surface the criticism seems justified—although defenders point out that a union of states (which is what the United States of America is) remains a democracy and negotiation is just part of the process. True, say the critics—but that kind of stuff just drives the price of health care reform through the roof by advocating for the few, to the detriment of the many.
But dig a little deeper and you suddenly begin to understand…
Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana) is chairman of the Finance Committee and principal author of the health care bill. So one has to wonder if he had anything to do with a cryptic proposal, which The New York Times described on Sunday as ‘inconspicuous’, expanding Medicare to cover certain victims of “environmental health hazards.”
“The intended beneficiaries are identified in a cryptic, mysterious way,” writes Robert Pear in the Read the rest of this entry »
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