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Asbestos News: September, 2008
A man from Rockdale, Texas was allowed by a judge in the Texas Multijurisdictional Litigation Court in Houston to continue with his lawsuit against his former employer, Alcoa. Alcoa petitioned to have the suit dropped since it claims that it did not intentionally harm the man who has been diagnosed with mesothelioma.
In AUSTRALIA, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutors has chosen to not file criminal charges against James Hardie in a dispute over asbestos compensation. During examination of the case, in which James Hardie is alleged to have underfunded an asbestos compensation trust by over $1.5 billion, criminal charges were discussed.
In ORANGEVILLE, ONTARIO, CANADA, over the summer, asbestos was discovered and removed from a secondary school. The discovery was made during “massive” renovations to improve the school’s energy efficiency, air quality, and ventilation system. Most of the ventilation system was built in the years between 1950 and 1967, and was severely outdated.
Since then, the school’s operations systems, such as the ventilation and electrical components, have not been replaced. Much of the wiring no longer was up to code and the air quality in the school was poor due to inefficient air circulation. The renovation project aimed to remedy these problems and many others, but during the work, asbestos was discovered which had to be removed.
Delays in the project prevented its completion before the students returned to class, and the areas still undergoing renovations will be partitioned off. As those are completed, other parts of the school will be closed. Letters concerning the construction are to be sent home to the parents on the first school day.
As removal of the asbestos was done in the early stages of the renovations, school officials say there is no threat to students as they return to class.
In GALESBURG, IL, plans to replace some ceiling tiles in the Learning Center of Galesburg High School are being moved up to the end of this school year. Original plans called for the ceiling tiles, which contained asbestos, to be replaced several years from now, but after a state inspector’s tour of the school over the summer, the date was changed to the end of the current school year.
The state inspector found what appeared to be an asbestos ceiling tile with a recent cut made in it. Dust from the hole was still nearby. The district maintains that the hole was not recent, but the decision to replace the tiles was still made. Replacement of the tiles will cost the district $2 million, but the potential cost of not replacing them is much higher.
Exposure to asbestos dust and particles can lead to deadly lung diseases such as asbestosis and mesothelioma. The dust around the hole in the asbestos tile could prove to be a health hazard, and any future disturbances in the tiles could also create problems. The district is erring on the side of caution by replacing the tiles sooner rather than later.
Sources:
“$1.8m Shift in Galesburg School District Budget“, Galesburg Radio 14 WGIL, 5 September 2008
“Asbestos found at high school“, The (Orangeville, ON) Banner, 29 August 2008
Residents of Libby, Montana who were dismayed at the closing of the Montana Asbestos Screening and Surveillance Activities office on Mineral Avenue will be pleased to learn that free asbestos screenings are still available.
Dr. Pamela Abernethy, an insurance lawyer with the Forum of Insurance Lawyers, claimed that pleural plaques were a “good thing”, and that they showed the efficiency of the body’s natural defense system to prevent foreign particles in the lungs from doing damage to the rest of the body.
A new drug - MolMed’s NGR-hTNF (trade name Arenegyr)- has been granted orphan status by the United States Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of the rare cancer, mesothelioma. It already received the same designation in June of 2008 from the European Union. Orphan drugs are those which treat rare diseases whose sufferers have few or no other options. The orphan status allows for the manufacturer to exclusively market the drug for seven years in the United States and 10 years in the European Union, providing an incentive for drugmakers to produce these pharmaceuticals despite the small market for them.
In a rare case of treatment proving effective against malignant mesothelioma, Heather Von St. James of Minneapolis seems to be winning the battle of her life.
Past genetic studies on the body’s response to asbestos, which leads to the development of mesothelioma, have been fraught with difficulties. The complexity of the reactions meant that a direct link to genetics would be hard to find. A recent study reported in the September issue of BMC Genomics might provide the information scientists need to gain insights into the role genetics plays in the development of mesothelioma and other asbestos related diseases.
In TASMANIA, AUSTRALIA, workers unions are seeking to make working and living conditions safer in Tasmania by petitioning the government to rid all buildings of asbestos. Exposure to asbestos fibers and particles has been linked to the deadly cancer, mesothelioma. Asbestos-related diseases including mesothelioma have resulted in the deaths of thousands of Tasmanian workers over the years.
In EASTCHESTER, NY, students of Anne Hutchins Elementary will have to begin the school year at nearby Greenvale Elementary due to delays in asbestos cleanup at their school. During construction over the summer, rainwater leaked in through the roof the the school’s second story. The ceiling of the second level had to be replaced and the entire floor cleaned up from the asbestos in the ceiling tiles used.
Beginning September 19, 2008, free health screenings for asbestos-related illnesses will end, and the clinic providing them to Libby residents, Montana Asbestos Screening and Surveillance Activities, will close.
Over 600 anonymous samples of biological specimens removed from mesothelioma patients are now available in a virtual format via the Internet, from the National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank (NMVB). This will provide an invaluable database for researchers studying human mesothelioma. The samples are only released once identifying information has been removed in order to preserve the anonymity of the patients. Stringent security protocols prevent the information from being accessed by unauthorized parties.
Democratic vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden has close ties to the asbestos litigation specialists of law firm SimmonsCooper. Biden and his brother received $1 million in financing from the law firm to purchase hedge funds. The money was returned, however, after the deal failed. SimmonsCooper has also worked closely with Joe Biden’s son on its asbestos litigation cases in Delaware. Since 2001, employees of the Illinois firm have contributed more than any other entity to the Biden campaign, and the firm is perceived to have benefited from Joe Biden’s support in Congress.
A grant for $4 million from the Pennsylvania Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program was awarded to a project which will renovate a site which once held an asbestos factory. Once completed, the site will house 288 condominiums and the Boiler House office building. The additional funding will contribute to the $20 million needed for ridding the site of asbestos waste and remnants from the factory. State funds have also donated $4 million to cleaning up the site. To make up the rest of the costs, the developers, Westrum Development Company anticipates local contributions.
As a member of a class-action lawsuit against Celotex Corporation and Carey Canada, Erie County, New York is set to receive $1.3 million in payment for property damage. The county and other plaintiffs in the suit claimed that Celotex and Carey Canada caused property damage and personal injury from asbestos-containing materials manufactured by the companies which were installed in county buildings.
In South Africa, asbestos pipes and other rusting plumbing refuse were discovered in a stream near the Myburgh’s Waterfall Ravine in Table Mountain National Park. The discarded piping was found by a local Hout Bay resident, Jonny Cohen, on a hike through the park. Cohen also found a weir constructed across the stream. Pipes from the weir led to a dam in the privately owned Ken Heights.
In Billings, Montana, a Bridger high school teacher was sentenced to one year of probation for making special education students pick up floor tiles containing asbestos without proper protection. The retired teacher, Randal J. Ecker, pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Air Act for his negligence in not sending a form to the Environmental Protection Agency in order to notify them of the asbestos removal in 2003.
Sears will pay a civil fine of $50,000 to a family for alleged improper asbestos removal from the family’s home. The family filed suit against Sears, asking for an estimate to remove their old boiler which was housed in asbestos-containing insulation. The couple, Blane and Rachel Provost, also wanted a new boiler installed. When a price was agreed upon by the Provosts and the Sears representative, work began on the removal of the old boiler and its insulation.
The students and parents of Public School 256 near Brooklyn, New York, know about difficulties. The students of the special needs school are no strangers to doctors who present their parents with the initial diagnosis, but now, they and their parents could face another diagnosis in the future - lung disease caused by asbestos in their school.
“Danger, asbestos, cancer and lung disease hazard,” warn signs in both English and Spanish posted around the Palm Springs courthouse in Riverside County, California. These signs are intended to prevent courthouse employees and visitors from wandering into areas of the courthouse undergoing renovations to become compliant with modern building codes and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Some of the sections undergoing renovation contain asbestos and asbestos-containing materials such as insulation.
In a blow to a workers’ compensation plaintiff, the Supreme Court of Connecticut ruled that expenses related to a claimant’s lung disease caused by smoking had to be deducted when determining awards for asbestos related compensation. In the past, full compensation was given to the claimant. The plaintiff’s attorney, Christopher Meisenkothen, stated that the Connecticut Supreme Court “has enacted a new rule of law based on the novel and undefined term ‘concurrently developing disease process’ in contravention of the Workers’ Compensation Act”.
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