Mesothelioma & Asbestos Cancer News: May, 2009

ITHACA, NY—The Tompkins County Legislature’s 20-year capital plan may include the demolition of Ithaca’s old county library building at Cayuga and Court streets. The 20-year plan, which was voted in by the legislature in 2006, is implemented in order to design more space for a new governmental office building, which will house legislative and administration offices. The dismantling of Ithaca’s old county library, if allowed to take place, would occur in 2018. The current usage of the library is for the storage of voting machines and records, and the community justice program is housed in the basement.

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Westborough, MA—The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently sent a stern message to contractors who work with asbestos-containing materials, in levying a fine of over $18,000 against one Massachusetts contracting firm.

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Madison, IL—A plaintiff is naming over 200 defendants in a Madison, IL mesothelioma case. Charles Childress, a contractor who worked for over 50 years at various companies and facilities across the nation, was diagnosed with mesothelioma in March 2009.
Attorneys for Childress, Randy Gori and Barry Julian, filed suit in Madison County on April 2, citing over 200 businesses, as well as two universities.

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ALAMEDA – Debris from Alameda streets have recently been laboratory tested by residents. The debris from their yards, caused by the March 29th fire at the former Army Medical Depot, tested positive for evidence of asbestos. The Alameda Fire Department had previously denied any release of the dangerous contaminants. The fire was allowed to burn for 19 hours when it occurred.

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Switzerland–Swiss billionaire Stephan Schmidheiny and Belgian baron Jean-Louis de Cartier de Marchienne appeared in a Turin courtroom on Monday for preliminary proceedings. The courtroom was packed with curious bystanders, protestors, and interested parties.

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The state of Georgia is facing budget cuts and a halt on hiring, which may lead to a decrease in the enforcement and regulation of environmental laws.

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REMOND, OR—Asbestos removal and containment procedures are being conducted at an Oregon high school, after a ball hit the gymnasium ceiling and disturbed some asbestos-containing building material last week.

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WICHITA, Kansas—A lawsuit filed by a former inmate has been reestablished by a federal appeals court. The former inmate reports that he was exposed to asbestos at the Leavenworth federal penitentiary.

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The family of a man who contracted pulmonary asbestosis and lung cancer has filed a lawsuit against Texaco and Chevron.

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STRASBOURG, Fr—Transgene, a biotechnology company, announced on Wednesday its plan to launch of a new phase II trial of its Vero-IL2 product for the treatment of mesothelioma.

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Burlington, VT—A new study conducted by the Vermont Department of Health is good news for many residents who live near an abandoned asbestos mine.

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OTTAWA—A Canadian politician who once worked a Yukon asbestos mine is charging that his country is wrongly exporting asbestos material.

Manitoba NDP MP Pat Martin has made a motion before the House of Commons to declare April First an asbestos-disease awareness day.

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SHANGHAI—Over the weekend, authorities reported that asbestos had been discovered in a brand of baby talcum powder which was distributed in South Korea. The Shanghai Food and Drug Administration has announced that is is closely monitoring the situation.

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BEAVER DAM, Wisconsin—In downtown Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, nine buildings are cited for the removal of asbestos-containing materials. The abatement was voted in 4-2 by the operations committee and will be considered before the entire city council on March 16th. The city must acquire the nine properties before March 31st. The plan includes asbestos removal and demolition of the nine buildings, small restoration work and removal of a parking garage.

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United Kingdom–It has been reported that at least 272 deaths of teachers may have been due to asbestos exposure.

Asbestos is a naturally-occurring mineral that is a known carcinogen. This material consists of long, thin fibrous crystals and may be mixed with other substances in order to resist heat, electricity and chemical damage. Due to these characteristics, asbestos was used in many buildings and other structures throughout the 1900s.

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TRAVERSE CITY, MI—The proposed budget for the state of Michigan will no longer include funding earmarked for asbestos inspection.

At stake is the Department of Environmental Quality program which safeguards compliance with federal asbestos regulations. This covers inspections of buildings slated for renovation or demolition in order to ensure asbestos containment.

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Manhattan Beach, CA—A new technology that will aid in the earlier detection of asbestos-related diseases was unveiled Saturday, March 28th, at the annual conference of the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization.

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San Jose, CA—A former Air Force radar station near Silicon Valley has long been abandoned, but remains a health hazard because of high levels of asbestos contamination there.

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PITTSFORD, NY—Forty-eight boxes of evidence have been removed by federal and state authorities from the home of Louis Sinisgalli in Pittsford, New York. According to court records that were unsealed on Monday, one box that was found in a bedroom closet contained $827,375 in cash.

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Bridgeport, CT—A Superior Court jury has awarded the wife of an ex-Navy firefighter who died from asbestos-related cancer nearly $2.6 million.

Gail Fortier, of Port Orange, FL, will be paid $2,595,000 by Allis-Chalmers Co., a manufacturing company that used asbestos to insulate its pumps and other products.

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