Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Crane Co. Must Face Trial Over Risk Of Asbestos Exposure From Valve Insulation, Gaskets and Discs

Posted By Belluck and Fox at at 2:00 PM
Permanent Link: Crane Co. Must Face Trial Over Risk Of Asbestos Exposure From Valve Insulation, Gaskets and Discs

Labels: asbestos, mesothelioma

Labels: asbestos, mesothelioma

Labels: asbestos, mesothelioma

The New York State Department of Labor recently halted renovations being conducted on the campus of SUNY New Paltz due to violations in asbestos handling committed by the firm completing the renovations. The violations were discovered on a routine checkup and the school was notified immediately of the findings. The company performing the renovations, Milestone Environmental of Morganville, may fined for the violations.

Labels: asbestos

The North Tonawanda Middle School in North Tonawanda, New York is undergoing significant renovations, some of which will require the disturbance of asbestos tiling throughout multiple areas of the school. Representatives from Kideney Architects, the architectural firm responsible for the work, explained to concerned parents that New York State has stringent regulations regarding asbestos abatement and that all regulations were being closely followed so as not to put the health of any child or worker at risk.

More information on this story can be found at: http://www.tonawanda-news.com/local/local_story_127214442.html.

Labels: asbestos

Labels: asbestos

The Queens Tribune is running a story on a long-standing dispute between the property managers and residents at Bell Park Gardens in Bayside, New York over the safety of an asbestos abatement project. Some of the residents at Bell Park Gardens, along with members of the Local 78 union, allege that the abatement has been performed in an unsafe manner and that residents have been exposed to asbestos dust in their homes and in other parts of the complex. Residents and union workers showed reporters from the Queens Tribune construction debris in and around a number of Bell Park’s housing units that they claim contains asbestos dust and particulate matter. The Tribune has collected some of this debris and will conduct independent testing on it to determine whether asbestos is present or not.

The property managers insist that everything is “up to par” and that all regulations have been met. However, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, the department which monitors and enforces asbestos regulations, inspected the project at least five different times during 2008 and twice fined the contractor for violating city regulations that require wetting the asbestos before removing it.

Results of the testing will be annouced as soon as they come in. Asbestos is a dangerous mineral and is known to cause malignant mesothelioma and lung cancer, as well as a number of other non-malignant, yet still quite serious pulmonary disorders, such as asbestosis.

Labels: asbestos

Labels: asbestos

Labels: asbestos

Labels: asbestos

Labels: asbestos

The Nashua Telegraph is reporting that the City of Nashua has received a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to help with the clean-up and redevelopment of the city’s Millyard complex, which is an area of Nashua that city planners have long wanted to redevelop but have not been able to because it contains a structure with significant asbestos contamination. This structure, now known as The Boiler House, was home to the primary boiler system for a textile mill that used to be the main occupant of the 61-acre site and it contains a large amount of asbestos because of this. The asbestos is not a danger in its present form, but if the city is to complete the Millyard redevelopment then the asbestos inside the Boiler House will have to be properly contained and disposed of.

The grant from HUD was made through its Brownfields Economic Development Initiative, which the HUD website describes as:

The Brownfields Economic Development Initiative (BEDI) is a key competitive grant program that HUD administers to stimulate and promote economic and community development. BEDI is designed to assist cities with the redevelopment of abandoned, idled and underused industrial and commercial facilities where expansion and redevelopment is burdened by real or potential environmental contamination.

City planners say that the 75% of the grant money will be dedicated to the asbestos removal. The HUD grant comes in addition to a $200,000 grant that the city received last year from the EPA.

Labels: asbestos

The Federal Mine Safety Health Administration (MSHA) has recently announced new rules governing airborne asbestos levels in mines across the country, finally bringing the mining industry into the same asbestos regulatory levels as are industries that are covered by OSHA standards.

The new rules lower the allowable fiber concentration in regular minespaces from two fibers per cubic centimeter to 0.1 fibers per cubic centimeter—a 95% reduction in the allowable density of fiber concentration. The rules also lowered the allowable limit at which workers can briefly be exposed to higher concentration levels. The previous rules stated that brief exposures could as high as 10 fibers per cubic centimeter for up to 15 minutes, while the new rules state that exposures can only occur with concentrations up to 1 fiber/cc for 30 minutes.

The rules changes were long fought-for by miners’ advocates and were actually first proposed in 1999 by the U.S. Department of Labor, which is MSHA’s parent organization. While no asbestos is mined in the U.S. these days, there have been a number of cases where the ore from certain mines was found to have some kind of asbestos contamination. The vermiculite mine in Libby, Montana is probably the most famous example of this kind of contamination, but other examples also exist. There are currently a number of studies being conducted in the State of Minnesota to analyze the high numbers of mesothelioma cases, mainly pleural mesothelioma, that are found among the State’s Iron Range workers—none of whom work with directly with asbestos, but who may have been exposed to the mineral in contaminated taconite mines. The new MSHA guidelines were designed to protect miners from these kinds of situations.

Richard E. Stickler, acting assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health, has said,

“This final rule will help improve health protection for miners who work in an environment where asbestos is present...Furthermore, it will help lower the risk of material impairment of health or functional capacity over a miner’s working lifetime.”

Labels: asbestos

A recent article in the Vancouver Sun details the results of a study on the health of construction workers in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The study, commissioned by the British Columbia and Yukon Building and Construction Trades Council, estimates that 300 British Columbia construction workers will die every year—for at least the next five years—because of exposure to asbestos.

The article also notes that incidences of asbestos-related death and disease are on the rise. WorkSafeBC, which is the workers’ compensation board of British Columbia, is quoted as “We’ve known that 51 per cent of work-related deaths accepted last year were occupational disease deaths and the vast majority are related to asbestos exposure that happened often decades ago... They [asbestos-related deaths] are certainly increasing year over year and we expect to see this trend for the next 10 to 15 years. It’s a very big issue for us.”

Of the asbestos-related deaths, mesothelioma is most highly represented, but those quoted all say that the figures are skewed much lower than the actual reality of the situation. “We know that many mesothelioma fatalities are not recorded in the statistics, nor are many lung cancer cases that are caused by asbestos exposure,” said Wayne Peppard, executive director of the construction trades council.

Canada, like the United States, is one of the only developed countries in the world that has not enacted an outright ban on asbestos.

To learn more about the most common forms of mesothelioma, please visit the following pages: pleural mesothelioma and peritoneal mesothelioma.

Labels: asbestos

A number of employees of the town of Amherst, New York were recently exposed to asbestos during demolition work performed as part of an upgrade of the town’s Sewage Treatment Plant. The employees were replacing failing filters at the treatment plant, which requires the removal of a concrete pipe that is attached to each filter. One of the employees became concerned that the pipe might contain asbestos, so they checked with the plant managers who verified that the pipe was made of concrete mixed with asbestos. The angry workers then complained to the town because they were not given the proper protective gear for working with asbestos. The town’s engineer, Jeffrey Burroughs, said that neither the town nor the plant’s mangers had any idea that the exposed pipes contained asbestos and had they known, they would never have knowingly exposed the workers without informing them. He said most pipes that used asbestos were buried underground and they were as surprised as the workers to see a pipe in the open.

The town has since sealed off the area and secured the necessary funds to bring in an asbestos removal contractor.

Labels: asbestos

ADAO Press Release: Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization Releases Findings that Reveal Evidence of Asbestos in Everyday Products

The Seattle Post Intelligencer is running a story on the discovery of asbestos in a variety of children's toys and other household products. The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, a volunteer organization dedicated to increasing awareness regarding the dangers of asbestos, funded an 18-month study that contracted with government-certified laboratories to conduct health and safety analysis on a variety of products.

The results were very disappointing.

The ADAO study found that asbestos was present in many more products than was previously realized. Among the more distressing findings was that a very popular children's toy, the "CSI Fingerprint Examination Kit," tested positive for asbestos. The game includes a number of toy tools and some fine powder that children can use to "examine" fingerprints. The laboratory found two different types of asbestos in the power. ADAO and physicians asked about the game are especially concerned that children playing with the powder will be breathing in asbestos fibers.

Other products implicated in the study included: children's play clay, powdered cleanser, roof sealers, duct tapes, window glazing and spackling paste. The tests were conducted by MVA Scientific Consultants, Inc., and Bureau Veritas North America, Inc.

The U.S. Senate has recently passed a bill aimed at banning all products that contain more than 1% asbestos. The House is expected to hold hearings on a bill that would seek a total ban.

Labels: asbestos

Labels: asbestos

Labels: asbestos

Labels: asbestos

In anticipation of her testmiony before a congressional hearing headed by U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan), New York Daily News writer Juan Gonzalez posted ten questions that former EPA chair Christine Todd Whitman should answer. The quetions all revolve around what Ms. Whitman had to say about the many directives that the EPA released in the days following September the 11th which stated that the air quality of Lower Manhattan was safe. Since then, more than 70% of the first responders at Ground Zero have been diagnosed with serious diseases. Many of them have already died from expsoure to the cloud of toxic substances that engulfed the area after the collapse of the Twin Towers.

Mr. Gonzalez's qestions:

1. Did Ms. Whitman read a copy of Dr. Kilbourne's memo which stated "One of the first five EPA bulk samples from the WTC site contained a 'substantial concentration' of asbestos." Did anyone from EPA make her aware of his warning?
2. Did any top scientist at the EPA or elsewhere in government urge similar caution before reopening lower Manhattan to the public?
3. Given the early test results by the EPA and the city, which showed nearly 25% of dust samples had asbestos levels greater than the government's 1% action standard for dust, how could she possibly tell the public on Sept. 13 that "everything" was "below background levels?"
4. Did EPA follow regulations and do alkalinity testing in the first week after the attack? If so, why were those test results never publicly released?
5. If not, why not?
6. Since the EPA had legal responsibility for all environmental concerns, what did she do to enforce greater protection to workers on The Pile?
7. The EPA Inspector General's report concluded in August 2003 that staff at the White House Council on Environmental Quality rewrote agency press releases to downplay possible environmental health dangers in lower Manhattan. Did she tell the White House that non-health professionals were removing health advisories from your agency's public statements?
8. Why did EPA let tens of thousands of people return to homes and jobs in lower Manhattan without a way to verify whether building owners had properly removed all toxic contamination from inside their buildings?
9. Is she prepared to unequivocably tell the workers and residents of lower Manhattan their homes and offices are free of any 9/11 contaminated dust?
10. Did she have any discussions with the President or any of his closest White House aides about the potential public health danger of reopening the financial district too quickly, and if so, what was their response?

Labels: asbestos

Faculty at Troy High School and La Habra High School in Orange County, California have asked their district's school board members to enact new procedures to protect employees and students during renovations to remove asbestos from the school's buildings. Teachers at the schools are notifying officials of many incidents where they felt their health and that of the students' has been compromised. A teacher from Troy High School found a bundle of "large, plastic-wrapped bags marked with the words 'danger' and 'asbestos' sitting near equipment that circulates air in the building." Another teacher from Troy said she developed asthma, chest pain and bronchitis during recent renovations.

Faculty members from each of the two schools have signed separate petitions to the school board to address these and other concerns.

Labels: asbestos

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has fined Parkway Village Equities Corp, located in Queens, NY, $117,000 for allegedly violating nine separate health and safety standards relating to employee protection for asbestos exposure. OSHA began an inspection of the facility on November 1st, 2006 after receiving a complaint regarding worker safety conditions. They found that Parkway employees who were regularly required to work in tight spaces with known or likely asbestos contamination were not furnished with the appropriate protective gear. The results of this investigation are the basis for the current set of citations.

OSHA has fined Parkway for four "willful citations" of health and safety standards, which carry $112,000 in fines, and for five "serious citations", which added an additional $5000 in fines.

The four willful citations were:

• Parkway did not monitor the employees' exposure levels;
• they did not inform employees of the presence, location and quantities of asbestos;
• they did not institute a training program; and,
• they did not label asbestos-containing material.

The five serious citations were:

• Parkway did not provide appropriate hand, face and eye protection;
• there were respirator safety deficiencies;
• there was a lack of quick-drenching eyewashes;
• there was no hazard communication program; and
• Parkway did not properly label and dispose of asbestos-contaminated material.

Labels: asbestos

In a ruling made public on Wednesday, May 9th, 2007, The New York Supreme Court held that aggregate limits in insurance policies do not apply to all possible claims arising during business operations. The ruling, which upheld the claims against CNA of thousands of individuals seeking coverage for asbestos-related personal injuries, is considered to have broken legal ground by establishing that operational claims are not subject to the aggregate limits clauses regarding a products hazard. August J. Matteis Jr., lead trial counsel for the claimants, argued that "their claims were not barred by the aggregate limits in the policies because claims that arise out of exposure to asbestos during the installation process are considered 'operations' claims—therefore not subject to aggregate limits."

The ruling is considered a victory for policyholders as it expands the domain of coverage that insurers are responsible for fulfilling.

Labels: asbestos

Aapex Environmental Services is contesting the recent fine by the Occupational Safety and Health Association (OSHA) of $57,000 for allegedly violating six occupational health standards relating to asbestos exposure. The alleged citations occurred during Aapex's cleanup of the former Agway building in DeWitt, New York. Aapex and the U.S. Labor Department, which OSHA is a member of, are now entering a litigation period. If they are unable to agree to a settlement, both parties will be able to present their cases to a judge in the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Labels: asbestos

John Kielbasa, a pipefitter with twenty-one years of experience in the Department of Education, alleges that even though he discovered loose asbestos in at least seven public schools and one DOE office, the Department won't remove the cancer-causing agent because of cost issues. When DOE spokeswoman Marge Feinberg insisted that the city's schools were safe, Mr. Keilbasa and his attorney, Peter Gleason, hired a lab to collect samples and conduct a site analysis of the areas Mr. Keilbasa identified as contaminated. According to Mr. Kielbasa, the lab confirmed the presence of asbestos at each location.

The site locations where the asbestos was allegedly found:

1. PS 102, 315 E. 113th St. in Manhattan
2. PS 72, 131 E. 104th St, in Manhattan
3. PS 18, 502 Morris Ave. in The Bronx
4. Manhattan Center HS, 116th Street and Pleasant Avenue in Manhattan
5. Park East HS, 230 E. 105th St. in Manhattan
6. Samuel Gompers HS, 455 Southern Blvd. in The Bronx
7. South Bronx HS, 701 St. Ann's Ave
8. The Division of School Facilities' headquarters, Vernon Boulevard in Queens

Labels: asbestos

Pennsylvania State Rep. John T. Galloway has demanded that developer Stephen Ifshin of DLC Management Corp offer "immediate health examinations" and "pay all medical costs" to firefighters who performed a training exercise at Levittown Town Center, a 50-acre worksite owned by DLC and fined by the EPA for improper handling of asbestos, if the firefighters are found to have suffered from the exposure.

In 2002, members of various Bucks County fire companies took part in a training exercise where they had to cut through the Center's roof and fight a blaze inside of the building. The exercise took place after the EPA had found asbestos "strewn" over the entire site and had leveled a large fine against DLC and the subcontractor that worked the site. Even though the EPA had fined DLC, state, county and borough officials were never informed of the potential health risk and DLC let the scheduled exercise take place on their site without any warning.

Labels: asbestos

The Architect of the Capital (AOC), which is the organization responsible for the maintenance, operation, development, and preservation of the United States Capitol Complex, has announced that some of the Capital Power Plant tunnel workers who've been working in asbestos-contaminated tunnels below the Capital Complex, and are now showing signs of asbestos-related disease, will be reassigned to other duties.

The announcement comes in the wake of increasing congressional pressure on the AOC to transition this tunnel crew into less hazardous worksites. The AOC was made aware of the asbestos problems in some tunnels in 2000, but did not provide the requisite protective gear for the workers until 2006. Many of these workers are now exhibiting regular symptoms of asbestos-related diseases and members of Congress have become increasingly vocal in their criticism of how the AOC has handled the situation.

Labels: asbestos

Source: Insurance Journal

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Association (OSHA) has fined Aapex Environmental Services Inc. for $57,000 for allegedly violating six occupational health standards relating to asbestos exposure. The violations that allegedly took place during the contractor's work at the former Agway building in Dewitt, New York include:

1. Failure to conduct the required monitoring of employee exposure to asbestos, even though the company's records indicated the monitoring had taken places;
2. Failure to collect short term air sampling;
3. Failure to keep accurate exposure monitoring records;
4. Failure to notify employees of sampling results;
5. Failure to establish an asbestos containment system by trained employees;
6. Failure to prevent the leak of asbestos-contaminated water from a worksite.

Aapex has an upcoming meeting with OSHA to discuss the disciplinary actions.

These fines follow the recent admissions of a former Aapex supervisor regarding the improper disposal of asbestos fibers where fibers drained into pubic sewers and contaminated construction debris. The supervisor, Everette Blatche, has pled guilty to a felony conspiracy charge and will face sentencing in August.

Labels: asbestos

Town officials from Meredith, New Hampshire have fined an unidentified group of individuals after discarded asbestos was found in the town's transfer station. After the asbestos was discovered and then identified as such by the town's Code Enforcement Officer, it was traced back to the vehicle from where it was improperly disposed of. The owners of this vehicle have been charged with the costs of removing and disposing the sheet of asbestos. The vehicle itself has been impounded by the police.

New Hampshire law strictly regulates the handling, packaging and disposal of asbestos.

Labels: asbestos