Workers hired to do repairs on the Scientology cruise ship Freewinds are concerned about their health after they were exposed to harmful asbestos.

Employees of Curacao Drydock Company were forced to stop work on Freewinds due to the presence of asbestos after it was quarantined in Curacao back in April. Upon inspection by the local health department and an official for the Department of Labor Affairs in Curacao, Freewinds was found to be contaminated by asbestos-containing paneling and insulation.

Officials are now releasing reports made by the Freewinds captain that claim that there were “previous incidents” during which asbestos fibers may have been transferred via the ship’s ventilation system. A report dating back to 1987 has also surfaced, in which former Scientologist and ship architect Lawrence Woodcraft claims that he discovered asbestos on the Freewinds. No action was taken at that time by Scientology leaders who received Woodcraft’s report.

In addition, recent news stories allege that Scientology representatives misrepresented the amount of asbestos present on the ship to Nordica Engineering, a company that was hired to refurbish the interior of the Freewinds. Scientology officials have yet to pay Nordica Engineering the $3.5 million dollars that they owe for renovation costs.

Students at Middle Park High School in Granby, CO will be sleeping in for a few extra days due to an extended asbestos abatement project. The first day of the new school year was scheduled for September 2nd, but students will be unable to return to the building until the 8th.

According to school officials, contractors for Neenan Co., the company hired to handle the abatement project, found more asbestos than they had anticipated within vinyl floor tiles. The project deadline had to be extended to accommodate the removal and proper disposal of the additional asbestos-containing materials. Concerns over the health risks associated with asbestos, including the eventual development of malignant mesothelioma cancer, prompted the school to schedule the abatement project.

School Superintendent Nancy Karas said that all asbestos has now been removed and the building will be safe for the student’s return next week.

Building owners in Ontonagon, MI are concerned about asbestos exposure after several historical River Street buildings burned in a major fire.

City officials and the Michigan State Fire Marshall have informed building owners that they will need to make arrangements to have asbestos removed and disposed of safely before they can begin to rebuild.

“What’s going to happen is they’re going to contact the proper company to come in, contain it, put it in containing units, and haul it to a local landfill,” said Sheriff John Gravier.

Many of the buildings were over 100 years old and had been severely damaged in another fire almost a century ago.

Officials located asbestos in all burned buildings in the form of insulation, siding and floor tiles. All contaminated areas are roped off to the public.

EPA announced on Wednesday that it will consider including the Borit Asbestos Site in Ambler, PA to the Superfund National Priority List (NPL) in an effort to provide funding for asbestos cleanup and removal.

The site was previously used between 1930 and 1970 by Kane-Core, Inc. as a dump for asbestos-containing materials. The site has been divided into three areas – a waste pile still owned by Kane-Core, Inc., a water reservoir owned by the Wissahickon Valley Water Association, and a former Whitpain Township playground.

The Borit Asbestos site covers approximately six acres. The two-acre waste area includes insulation, piping, floor and ceiling tiles and other asbestos-laden materials. The eleven-acre former Whitpain Township park is situated directly over buried asbestos waste and was closed in the 1980s after officials deemed it a contaminated area.

The site has been added to the NPL list because EPA officials estimate that nearby residents were most likely exposed to errant airborne asbestos, as well as asbestos that may have been present in the water of Wissahickon Creek. Citizens and local officials are concerned about the potential long-term health consequences of ongoing asbestos exposure, including the development of mesothelioma cancer.

After a sixty-day period the NPL will make a decision regarding the admittance of the Borit Asbestos site. Another eleven contaminated sites throughout the U.S. are also being evaluated by the EPA and may also be admitted to the NPL list.

Officials at Heim Elementary School in the Buffalo suburb of Amherst, NY have confirmed that asbestos has been found in the building in the form of floor tiles, and despite a promise that appropriate safety procedures have been followed, parents are still angry.

“I want to know if it’s all been removed,” said an anonymous parent. “I want to know…did any of it get on the supplies that were already in the classroom?”

Williamsville Central School District Assistant Superintendent, Thomas Maturski, told WGRZ news that the district has a “contractor that follows all the EPA procedures,” and that asbestos-containing materials are “stable and not airborne.”

“…there’s no area we cut corners on,” promised Maturski.

The district stated that the asbestos removal project will be completed prior to the first day of school.

The free asbestos health screenings offered by the Montana Asbestos Screening and Surveillance Activities (MASSA) will end on September 19, 2008 after offering free screenings for Libby residents since 2003.

Claire Evans, a MASSA nurse, expressed sadness at the conclusion of the screening program.

“It’s sad that we’re closing down,” Evans said. “I think people here have been very happy to have the opportunity to come in and get checked out.”

The MASSA program, which was funded through CDC grants, went into effect in 2003 after Libby residents learned that they had been exposed to dangerously high levels of asbestos stemming from a vermiculite mine run by W.R. Grace, Co.

The screening program aided about 4,500 free lung tests to Libby residents. Residents who have not yet been screened for asbestos-related disease have until the 19th to receive their screening. After the 19th, residents who have lived in Libby for at least six months can take advantage of free screenings provided by the Libby Asbestos Medical Plan (LAMP).

Steven Dux has filed a lawsuit against 13 defendant corporations on behalf of his deceased father, Andres Martinez. Dux’s father died in November of 2007 from mesothelioma cancer.

Martinez worked as an equipment operator and laborer at various locations between 1952 and 1990. Dux claims that his father’s cancer was caused by asbestos exposure and that his father’s former employers should have taken necessary precautions to better protect their workers.

Dux is seeking an excess of $150,000 in compensation, claiming that his family lost large sums of money in order to cover his father’s funeral and unresolved medical expenses.

A San Francisco man will spend 10 months in jail after he improperly demolished an asbestos-filled building. Wassim Mohammad Azizi of Tracy violated the Clean Air Act after he knocked down a two-story vacant building in 2002.

Azizi did not inform the Environmental Protection Agency prior to beginning demolition, which constitutes as a violation of the Clean Air Act. Azizi also failed to properly handle asbestos materials.

The jury concluded that Azizi’s negligence may have exposed those who lived and worked near the demolished building to asbestos. The five-day trial was overseen by a federal judge.

Azizi will serve his sentence in a California federal prison.

A Bunker Hill, Ohio woman has filed a lawsuit against 47 defendants after her husband died of mesothelioma cancer. Geraldine Kruemmelbein filed suit on August 20th in Madison County Circuit Court.

The suit lists 47 corporations, including Dow Chemical and Owens-Illinois Glass. Mrs. Kruemmelbein alleges that her husband’s death was “wrongfully caused” by asbestos exposure at his various places of work between 1950 and 1993.

The Kruemmelbein family struggled to support themselves after Robert was unable to continue working and is seeking over $350,000 in restitution and damages.

Robert Kruemmelbein was diagnosed in 2005 and passed away just over a year later as a result of his asbestos cancer.

Donald Reed of Ohio has filed a lawsuit in Madison County against 60 different corporations after he was diagnosed with mesothelioma cancer back in July. The lawsuit defendants include The Boeing Company and North American/Boeing Company, where Reed’s father, Herman, worked for over thirty years. Reed claims that the asbestos dust on his father’s clothes contributed to his recent mesothelioma diagnosis.

In addition to secondhand exposure, Reed also alleges that he was exposed to asbestos while working in several different jobs, including engineering and maintenance. According to Reed, the health consequences of asbestos exposure were “foreseeable” and should have been “anticipated by the defendants.”

Reed stated that his asbestos-related cancer has “disabled and disfigured him.” He is seeking over half a million dollars in compensation.

The lawsuit also claims that Metropolitan Life Insurance Company “conspired” with the defendant corporations and downplayed the health implications of asbestos. Reed also stated that the defendants destroyed asbestos-related documents after he requested their release.