Arizona (AZ) Asbestos And Mesothelioma General, Medical, & Legal Resources

Arizona (AZ) Asbestos Resources & Information:

According to a map published by the American Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), there has been a large and thriving asbestos industry in the state of Arizona, concentrated in and around the Tucson area. American Asbestos Mines, a division of Arizona Asbestos Inc., operated several such mines during the 1950s and 60s.

Arizona is also home to The Asbestos Institute, Inc., one of the largest EPA-accredited training facilities in the nation for those involved in asbestos abatement and management. The Asbestos Institute is located in the bustling metropolis of Phoenix, and offers certification for Contractor/Supervisors, Building Inspectors, Management Planners, and Asbestos Abatement Workers as well as refresher courses and specialty training.

The Asbestos Industry in Arizona

To paraphrase perhaps the greatest President in U.S. history, W.R. Grace & Company is a name that will live in infamy. Thanks to the courageous work of a handful of journalists around the beginning of the 21st century, the plight of Libby, Montana, and what was done to its people by this corporation is fairly well known. What is less well known however is that the tentacles of W.R. Grace had reached almost everywhere--including Phoenix, Arizona, where the corporation operated a vermiculite packing plant.

The plant, called Solomon's Mines, Inc., was located at 4220 Glenrosa Drive. According to an alert published by the Arizona Department of Health Services and the ATSDR, those who worked in the plant as well as their families and others who lived in the neighborhood any time between 1964 and 1992, as well as current residents in the area, are at risk for exposure to asbestos fibers.

Vermiculite, while harmless in and of itself, was frequently contaminated with a deadly form of amphibole asbestos from the W.R. Grace Corporation mines in Libby.

Other Arizona Industries

Arizona is home to seven major power generating stations and three major copper smelting operations--and where there is heat there has usually been asbestos. Primarily, these were located in the state's major urban areas: Phoenix-Scottsdale, Tucson, and Yuma.

Most industrial operations like these have been making good-faith efforts to clean up their acts where asbestos is concerned, but anyone who worked at such an industry prior to 1990 would do well to have regular checkups, as asbestos diseases, particularly asbestosis and lung cancer, are most treatable in their early stages.

Asbestos Death Rates in Arizona

Between 1979 and 1999, more than 500 Arizonans died from asbestos-related diseases, almost 60% of whom were victims of mesothelioma. As one might expect, the highest death rate was in densely populated Maricopa County, which accounted for more than half of the total. La Paz County had the lowest rate, with a single fatality due to asbestosis.

Arizona Asbestos Law

Laws specific to asbestos diseases in the state of Arizona are covered under Title 36, Article 2, 36-134, which simply says: "The department shall develop and implement by rule standards and procedures to make asbestosis and mesothelioma diseases reportable to the department." In short, these reports are made at the local level, and filter upwards from there.

As far as the obligations of employers and employees, Title 23 is clear on this matter:

(A) Each employer shall furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are[sic] free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees.

(B) Each employer shall comply with occupational safety and health standards and all regulations and orders issued pursuant to this article.

However, the law does not recognize a "condition or practice which is common within an industry" as necessarily being a hazard unless there has been some regulation established regarding the practice.

Arizona (AZ) Legal Resources: Asbestos, Asbestos Cancer & Mesothelioma

Some people assume that in Arizona, mesothelioma is primarily of concern to those who have worked in the many copper mines in the state because of the asbestos dust that usually accompanies copper mining. However, Arizona also has factories, mills, and construction sites that have been known sources of exposure to asbestos. In fact, between 1948 and 1993 Arizona ranked number eight in the nation in terms of the number of tons of asbestos received from Libby, Montana (the source of up to 80% of the world's asbestos-containing vermiculite during the latter part of the 1900s). As a result, many people throughout the state have been exposed to asbestos and have needed to file lawsuits in order to receive compensation for the costs and suffering associated with mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases.

The statute of limitations for personal injury law in Arizona is two years. Arizona has no specific statutes about asbestos-related injury cases; however, a discovery rule states that the two-year statute of limitations begins when the problem (in this case the mesothelioma) either was discovered or should have been discovered. The discovery rule is especially important in cases involving mesothelioma because symptoms of the disease may not appear for as many as 15 years after the exposure to asbestos, especially if the exposure was at a low level.

In the 1980s there was a big push of lawsuits against a number of the mines in Arizona. For example, Tucson-based copper producer Asarco, which operated a number of copper mines in Arizona as well as in other states, has been involved in lawsuits going back to 1983. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in 2005 and is still working on settlements from those old lawsuits. People who filed previous asbestos-related cases against Asarco or any of its subsidiaries were forced to re-file with an Asbestos-Related Proof of Claim Form if the lawsuit included any of the debtors in the case.

In recent times, cases have been related less to the mines and more to independent locations such as construction sites. For example, in 2006 the owner of an industrial facility in Phoenix pled guilty to charges that he failed to comply with the hazardous materials packaging requirements prior to transporting asbestos, failed to train his workers in the handling of asbestos and failed to provide his workers with protective gear during the demolition of a commercial building. He was ordered to pay $75,000 in restitution to the victims and $2,000 in fines. In addition, he was sentenced to three years of probation. This was seen as a sign of support for victims of mesothelioma in Arizona.

Another recent case was filed in June, 2007, by the U.S. Department of Justice against the city of Winslow, one of its former city administrators, and a former apartment complex owner. They are charged with improper asbestos removal during the demolition of nine apartment buildings in violation of the Clean Air Act. It is reported to be one of the worst asbestos-related violations seen in the area, causing exposure to workers as well as general citizens of the area. If found guilty, the defendants could face civil penalties of up to $27,500 per day for each of five violations. If the rulings follow the history of those that have been handed down in Arizona in the recent past, the defendants will likely be fined for their actions, supporting Arizona's continued compensation to victims of mesothelioma.

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