Roger Worthington, P.C.

TOKYO, JAPAN: A further 45 people have been confirmed with health problems after exposure to asbestos from a former factory site in Ota Ward in Tokyo, the ward office said Saturday (29 Mar).

One man in his 70s died in October of pericardial mesothelioma–a form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos–and seven other people developed health problems after inhaling asbestos, according to the ward office.

Read complete story here.

From Thames Laboratories

The Environment Agency [United Kingdom] has sealed of an area of Thornton, Lancashire after six tonnes of asbestos was found illegally dumped on a privately owned industrial estate.

The asbestos has been secured and the site owners are arranging to have it correctly disposed of. Meanwhile a full investigation is underway and the Environment Agency is confident they will be able to identify the culprits.

A spokesman for the Agency said, “Samples are being taken from the asbestos at the site, and will be analysed at our laboratory in Nottinghamshire. We have quite sophisticated DNA tests which can help us and the police trace who has dumped it.”

Because of the dangerous nature of the material, responsible for lethal diseases such as mesothelioma, disposal of asbestos is tightly controlled and only a limited number of companies are licensed by the Environment Agency to perform the activity.

Information about mesothelioma medical and legal options provided by the Law Office of Roger G. Worthington, P.C., www.mesothel.com.

After the Board of Supervisors ruled yesterday against residents’ complaints about health hazards from construction on a former asbestos-containing shipyard site being converted into residential housing, the federal government stepped in to evaluate their claims. Adamant assertions by public health director Mitch Katz that the construction, which kicks up airborne asbestos, is safe, were rejected subject to further investigation.

Residents have suffered adverse health effects, and their suspicions were increased by the fact that compliance was overseen by a consulted employed by the construction firm.

Read here for details: San Francisco Chronicle, August 3, 2007.

Information about mesothelioma medical and legal options provided by the Law Office of Roger G. Worthington, P.C., www.mesothel.com.

Associated Press, August 2, 2007

A Queens technical school that was supposed to have been training laborers to safely remove asbestos helped hundreds of students cheat on their state certification exams, prosecutors said. The Queens district attorney said the husband and wife owners of the Senagryph Training Facilities gave out answers to anyone who needed them during the tests, including undercover detectives posing as students. In addition, foreign laborers in the country illegally were encouraged to use fraudulent Social Security numbers to obtain their asbestos removal licenses, the prosecutor said.

Information about mesothelioma medical and legal options provided by the Law Office of Roger G. Worthington, P.C., www.mesothel.com.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors agreed that work on the major redevelopment “Does not pose any human health risks.” The Bayview-Hunters Point project, according to neighborhood residents, is sending asbestos-laden dust into the air and causing health complications. From the San Francisco Examiner.

In response to the health concerns, Supervisor Chris Daly introduced a resolution calling for an immediate halt to the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard construction project in order to conduct an independent study on possible health impacts. For more than a year, Lennar Corp. has been preparing one parcel of a former massive shipyard for a 1,600-unit residential development. The board voted down the resolution.

Information about mesothelioma medical and legal options provided by the Law Office of Roger G. Worthington, P.C., www.mesothel.com.

July 31, 2007, with information from Minnesota National Public Radio

Reserve Mining Company was found dumping its asbestos-contaminated waste rock into Lake Superior thirty years ago. The courts forced Reserve to build an on-land disposal site for its waste rock, and set a standard for how many fibers the company could let dump on the surrounding towns through airborne emissions.

Asbestos is the carcinogenic, Class A poison responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths in this country, and the cause of America’s largest ever public health disaster

“Based on the measurements that were done in the early ’80s, and the fact that the agency quit monitoring for 25 years, we believe we satisfied the requirement in the fiber levels,” company spokeswoman LaTisha Gietzen was quoted as saying. “We continue to do our part, and they’ve [levels] continued to drop, and they’re at the lowest levels they’ve been in 30 years.”

However, since the standard for acceptable emissions is the quantity of fibers in St. Paul, where asbestos levels have also dropped, the company is out of compliance. Rather than meet the strict requirements, the company has sought an end-run around the regulations by trying to overturn the original court ruling.

Lee Lind, from the Save Lake Superior Association, originally formed his group 30 years ago to fight Reserve’s dumping in Lake Superior. Now the group has teamed with the Sierra Club. “Fibers are falling every day on Beaver Bay, Silver Bay, on the harbor down there,” Lind says. “It’s not like this problem has gone away, and these fibers, according the EPA, are considered dangerous.”

It’s time for corporate polluters like Reserve to follow the rules, not change them.

Medical and legal options for mesothelioma provided by The Law Office of Roger G. Worthington, P.C. | 273 W. 7th | San Pedro | CA | 90731, www.mesothel.com

EPA Asbestos Panel Should Stay Insulated from Industry

EPA is considering appointing Dennis C. Paustenbach to the asbestos panel of its Science Advisory Board. According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), Paustenbach has made a career out of defending corporations in asbestos exposure suits.

Agency panels and committees, such as EPA’s Science Advisory Board, are important tools for regulatory decision-makers. Panels are supposed to consist of impartial experts who can provide valuable scientific and technical advice.

EPA created the asbestos panel to aid the agency in maintaining risk assessments and exposure standards consistent with the most up-to-date scientific data and technological feasibility. Unfortunately, it appears Paustenbach’s expertise is in downplaying the risks of asbestos exposure and advocating for less protective federal standards.

EWG has sent a letter to EPA further detailing their opinion as to why Paustenbach is a bad choice. To read the letter, click here.

Posted by Matt Madia

Thursday, 24 May 2007, 03:02 CDT

Asbestos Board in Question: Concerns Raised About Candidates

By Susanne Rust, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

May 24–Potential panelists for a federal asbestos advisory board have financial conflicts that could pose a threat to public health and safety, according to researchers and environmental groups.

They are concerned about an Environmental Protection Agency board being convened to draft a risk assessment for asbestos fibers. Public comments concerning the panel will close today.

Although the EPA does not regulate asbestos, the agency provides a risk assessment that state and other federal agencies use to define exposure safety. These assessments are used as guides in the cleanup of asbestos-contaminated sites, including Superfund sites.

According to Jennifer Sass of the Natural Resources Defense Council, the recommendations of this panel are “likely to impact federal clean-up standards and may have further impacts on occupational and public health protections in the U.S. and internationally.”

The council and others are particularly concerned with “short list” nominees who have represented corporations such as W.R. Grace & Co. — a company that owned a vermiculite mine in Libby, Mont. The mine was closed in 1990 after reports of asbestos-related illness and death in the town.

The short list of 65 people also includes scientists who either own or work for product defense consulting firms. These are companies hired by corporations and trade associations to influence policy. The defense council is concerned about 12 of the nominees.

“The finances of these scientists are so closely linked to companies affected by federal asbestos policy that they should not be included on a panel whose work will help shape such policy,” wrote David Michaels in a letter to the EPA. He’s is a professor of environmental and occupational health at George Washington University.

The EPA panel is charged with reviewing a new risk assessment model, designed by the agency’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, which would allow the office to develop site-specific cancer assessments for Superfund sites.

The panel will have no policy or regulatory role. Its advice will be used to inform regulation, not set it, said Tony Maciorowski, deputy director of the EPA’s scientific advisory board office.

Asbestos is a known human carcinogen. Its inhalation has been linked to lung cancer and mesothelioma, a cancer that infects the lining of the lungs and other organs.

According to an internal EPA newsletter, the new model will help determine the carcinogenic potential of asbestos at specific sites and could result in cancer risk assessments that differ from the EPA’s current default.

Watchdog groups are wary about nominees who have argued on behalf of asbestos trade associations for other federal agencies, including the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

On May 4, three of the nominees — Ernest McConnell, president of ToxPath Inc.; Graham Gibbs, president of Safety Health Environment International Consultants; and Wayne Berman, president of Aeolus Inc. — appeared at an Occupational Safety and Health agency meeting to discuss asbestos research. The three nominees advocated on behalf of the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association, a trade group affected by federal asbestos regulations.

McConnell, who has researched asbestos for federal agencies and industry, said the panel should consist of people who know the most about the issue, regardless of their funding source.

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Copyright (c) 2007, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel