The Naples Daily News reports that the FBI has been called in to investigate a citizens’ complaint into asbestos removal procedures on Marco Island, FL.

“The Collier County Sheriff’s Office in conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the asbestos removal issue on Marco Island,” Sgt. David White of the sheriff’s Economic Crimes Unit wrote in an April 13 letter to Marco City Manager Bill Moss.

The complaint which prompted the investigation was a March 9th letter addressed to various state and federal agencies from a group of 50 Marco residents. Accompanying the letter was a packet of documentation, alleging that “city officials accused Marco citizens of planting asbestos and that a city contractor crushed asbestos on a city-owned vacant lot.”

“It’s about time,” said Vincent Leone, one of more than 4 dozen residents who signed the complaint. “I hope they complete the investigation and they find out what the source of the asbestos is because I don’t think what the city claims is right.”

The city manager, however, maintains that the letter is “politically motivated and patently false,” but Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Doug Molloy thought it prudent to forward the citizens’ complaint to the FBI for review. He did so on April 2nd.

The origins of this asbestos snafu involve representatives of a local political action committee known as Citizens Advocating Responsible Environmental Solutions (CARES). According to the newspaper account, the group found asbestos on city-owned lots known as Site A and Site C last March, prompting a six-day cleanup of Site C and a federal lawsuit against the city settled in October. Site A is still not cleared but is awaiting final U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) approval on a plan to be submitted by city road contractor Quality Enterprises, which was also a party in the civil suit, explains the article.

In October 2006, more asbestos was discovered on Site C, which prompted a criminal investigation led by the Marco Island Police Department. That investigation is still ongoing and the recent complaint was lodged because of the lack of a conclusion.

At this week’s American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting, world-renowned mesothelioma expert Dr. Michele Carbone announced that ONCONASE, manufactured by Alfacell Corporation, may have potential as a chemo-preventative agent for mesothelioma. A chemo-preventative agent is one that can be used in high-risk patients to prevent the onset of mesothelioma.

A recent press release on PharmaLive notes that Dr. Carbone presented data that show the early detection in patients at high risk for developing malignant mesothelioma is becoming more prevalent via the presence of certain biological markers in blood samples. If clinically validated, he added, physicians may be able to use ONCONASE as a chemo-preventive agent to “potentially prevent the onset of mesothelioma, or reduce the doses of cytotoxic agents needed in those patients who develop the disease.”

“The potential of ONCONASE as an early first-line preventative treatment for mesothelioma is an exciting development that we plan to investigate through clinical trials,” said Dr. Carbone. “With approximately more than 25 million asbestos exposure cases reported worldwide, we believe that ONCONASE might play a greater role in the treatment protocols for a much larger population than was originally envisioned for this dismal disease.”

Kuslima Shogen, Alfacell’s chairman and chief executive officer, added: “Dr. Carbone is recognized as one of the world’s leading researchers in mesothelioma. His remarks about ONCONASE at the AACR Annual Meeting reflect the interest of the international medical community in expanding the potential uses of ONCONASE.”

A former pipefitter and welder from Metairie, Louisiana was recently awarded $3.2 million by a Baton Rouge District Court for injuries resulting from asbestos exposure.

According to a recent press release by the law firm who represented Ray F. Rando, the judgment, signed by Judge Robert Burns in the 19th Judicial District Court for the Parish of East Baton Rouge, awards $2.8 million to Rando for pain, suffering and mental anguish, and $402,000 in special damages.

Though the case was tried in January, the final judgment was entered April 16 against Jacob Constructors (formerly H.E. Wiese Inc.), Parsons Infrastructure and Technology, Lou-Con Construction, insulator contractors Eagle and McCarty, Shell Oil Company, Tenneco and Murphy Oil.

Rando worked as both a pipefitter and welder at various locations, both commercial and industrial, since 1965. Now age 61, the Louisiana native was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma about 18 months ago. The only known cause of this form of cancer is exposure to asbestos. Evidence in the case showed that none of the defendants warned Rando as to the dangers of exposure to asbestos, with which he worked on a daily basis, even though they were aware of the hazards.

“Mr. Rando and his family are very glad that the court agreed with what we’ve said all along: that the defendants were responsible for exposing our client to deadly asbestos,” says Cameron Waddell, lead counsel for Mr. Rando. “Our team worked hard to make sure the facts were clear, and we are pleased that this judgment will help the Rando family.”

A Nebraska man who alleges he was exposed to asbestos dust and fibers brought home on the clothing of his father has filed charges against 106 defendants in Madison County (IL) Circuit Court.

Robert Moore, whose father was a mechanic at various locations across the country, claims his father would bring home asbestos on his clothes after working in a shop all day, where the material was prevalent. The elder Moore also worked as an electrician and laborer from 1940 until 1953.

Robert Moore was diagnosed with mesothelioma in January of this year and, according to the Madison County Record, immediately became aware that his illness was “wrongfully caused.”

The suit states that the defendants “failed to require and advise their employees of hygiene practices designed to reduce or prevent carrying asbestos fibers home.”

Because of these practices, Moore says he was exposed to dangerous asbestos fibers and subsequently developed mesothelioma, a cancer for which the only known cause is exposure to asbestos.

Moore also claims that he “has sought, but has been unable to obtain, full disclosure of relevant documents and information from the defendants leading him to believe the defendants destroyed documents related to asbestos.”

“It was foreseeable to a reasonable person/entity in the respective positions of defendants, that said documents and information constituted evidence, which was material to potential civil litigation-namely asbestos litigation,” the complaint states.

He claims that “as a result of each defendant breaching its duty to preserve material evidence by destroying documents and information he has been prejudiced and impaired in proving claims against all potential parties.”

“Plaintiff has been caused to suffer damages in the form of impaired ability to recover against defendants and lost or reduced compensation from other potentially liable parties in this litigation,” states the complaint.

A Nebraska man who alleges he was exposed to asbestos dust and fibers brought home on the clothing of his father has filed charges against 106 defendants in Madison County (IL) Circuit Court.

Robert Moore, whose father was a mechanic at various locations across the country, claims his father would bring home asbestos on his clothes after working in a shop all day, where the material was prevalent. The elder Moore also worked as an electrician and laborer from 1940 until 1953.

Robert Moore was diagnosed with mesothelioma in January of this year and, according to the Madison County Record, immediately became aware that his illness was “wrongfully caused.”

The suit states that the defendants “failed to require and advise their employees of hygiene practices designed to reduce or prevent carrying asbestos fibers home.”

Because of these practices, Moore says he was exposed to dangerous asbestos fibers and subsequently developed mesothelioma, a cancer for which the only known cause is exposure to asbestos.

Moore also claims that he “has sought, but has been unable to obtain, full disclosure of relevant documents and information from the defendants leading him to believe the defendants destroyed documents related to asbestos.”

“It was foreseeable to a reasonable person/entity in the respective positions of defendants, that said documents and information constituted evidence, which was material to potential civil litigation-namely asbestos litigation,” the complaint states.

He claims that “as a result of each defendant breaching its duty to preserve material evidence by destroying documents and information he has been prejudiced and impaired in proving claims against all potential parties.”

“Plaintiff has been caused to suffer damages in the form of impaired ability to recover against defendants and lost or reduced compensation from other potentially liable parties in this litigation,” states the complaint.

In a recent press release, the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute of Detroit (MI) announced “significant scientific findings that could lead to better treatment and therapies for cancer patients suffering from malignant pleural mesothelioma.”

Scientists at Karmanos recently presented their research at the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting in Los Angeles, CA.

“We are getting closer and closer to making an impact on this insidious disease,” said Anil Wali, Ph.D., an associate professor with Karmanos, who led a group of cross-collaborative researchers in studying the ubiquitin-proteasome proteolytic (UPP) pathway regulatory proteins.

Their study demonstrated that “protein ubiquitination and degradation are critical players in the spread of mesothelioma.” After studying 241 genes involved in the UPP pathway, Wali’s group “determined 33 genes were differentially expressed among epithelioid and biphasic histotypes.”

“We have already reported earlier detection biomarkers that can be utilized in assessing the high risk groups of patients,” Dr. Wali said. “Now, if we can develop a therapy to target this pathway, we will be one step closer to halting this disease.”

The Karmanos Institute has long been involved in the research of new treatments and potential cures for this deadly disease. Just a few years ago, they coupled with Wayne State University’s Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine to create the National Center for Vermiculite and Asbestos Related Cancers. The center is dedicated to addressing ways to diagnosis the disease in its earlier stages and strives to find more aggressive ways to fight mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases.

This most recent study received funding from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC).

The editor or the Salt Lake Tribune believes that the Utah Department of Health has done a great disservice to the city’s vermiculite miners by not informing them that they could contract serious respiratory diseases from their work in the city’s former asbestos-laden mines.

The Department of Health, says the editorial, never informed former employees at the now-defunct W.R. Grace mines that they were conducting a study to determine if cancer clusters exist in a two-mile radius of the three plants. Little attempt was made to contact the miners themselves and the media was never informed of the 2001 search. The editor believes that notification by the Dept. of Health would probably have resulted in locating a number of former workers and the issuance of early warnings to those individuals about the dangers of asbestos exposure.

“Unable to acquire payroll records from the defunct owner, W.R. Grace and Co., the department called the Internal Revenue Service and the Social Security Administration,” points out the editorial. “It contacted the Utah Tax Commission, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and various business licensing agencies. But it never called the news media, which would have publicized the warnings to former employees for free.”

“Now, six years later, after the study has concluded and news accounts were written, several former employees have learned of the danger and contacted the health department. They are advised to see a physician, and are questioned about the whereabouts of their co-workers,” the editorial explains. “But with diseases for which early detection is crucial to survival, the department shouldn’t have been dragging its feet.”

The lead epidemiologist in the study, Dr. Wayne Ball, says it isn’t normal procedure to contact the media about such research. He said the study took six years and the final reports were delayed because the federal grant only paid for a part-time employee.

A pipefitter that works for the New York City Department of Education (DOE) claims he’s found asbestos in seven city public schools and a DOE office, but says his employer is too cheap to do anything about its removal.
John Kielbasa, age 50, told the New York Post that cost has stopped his supervisors from ordering its removal - despite the health risks that asbestos poses to students and staff in those particular schools.
“Every time I bring this up, they tell me not to rock the boat,” said Kielbasa, a 21-year veteran of the school system. “They tell me, ‘You like your job? Want to keep it?’ ”
Kielbasa says he knows of only one instance where the issue has been addressed. The asbestos, he adds, is not encapsulated, but has been found in its loose or “friable” form, which is when it’s at its most dangerous.

The Department of Education Division of School Facilities claims they’ve never received any complaints from Kielbasa. However, his lawyer has been able to produce several documents that show a paper trail of written requests from Kielbasa to his supervisors.

Marge Feinberg, a spokesperson for the DOE, says the city schools are safe and that the DOE addresses asbestos issues as soon as they are brought to their attention. Kielbasa disagrees with the assessment.

“I find it in libraries. I find it in classrooms. I find it in hallways. I find it in machinery rooms, near ventilation ducts,” said Kielbasa, who hired an independent laboratory last year to test for asbestos. Results were positive at all the sites. They include:

• PS 102, 315 E. 113th St. in Manhattan, in machinery space under the cafeteria and near a heating, ventilation and air-conditioning unit feeding the gym.
• PS 72, 131 E. 104th St, in Manhattan, on a pipe and a ventilation duct - the one place Kielbasa said the issue was addressed.
• PS 18, 502 Morris Ave. in The Bronx, under the cafeteria and near the gym’s blower.
• Manhattan Center HS, 116th Street and Pleasant Avenue in Manhattan, under the auditorium and near a unit pumping air into the girls’ gym.
• Park East HS, 230 E. 105th St. in Manhattan, in the library radiator’s cover and the boiler room.
• Samuel Gompers HS, 455 Southern Blvd. in The Bronx, on a staircase.
• South Bronx HS, 701 St. Ann’s Ave., in a blower unit.
• The Division of School Facilities’ headquarters, Vernon Boulevard in Queens, on a first-floor staircase.

A four-party lawsuit recently filed in Kanawha County, West Virginia lists 163 defendants and seeks compensatory and punitive damages against all the defendants, both jointly and severally. The plaintiffs claim exposure to asbestos, which has caused them to be sickened with various asbestos-related diseases.

According to an article in the West Virginia Record, a Pittsburgh attorney has filed the suit on behalf of Jack and Edith England and Clifford and Edwina Maffett, all of Ohio; and John Nesselroad Jr. and Ralph and Naomi Smith of West Virginia.

Jack England was employed as a sheet metal worker for many years and currently suffers from asbestosis and lung cancer. Maffett was a millwright with Union Local USWA 1190 and suffers from the same illnesses as England.

John Nesselroad was employed as a boilermaker for Union Local 154 and currently suffers with asbestosis. Smith, the sickest of the group of four men, worked as a millwright for Union Local 1755 and has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, an asbestos-caused cancer.

The suit notes that the exposure to asbestos occurred in 41 plants throughout West Virginia. It also states that the companies knew about the risk associated with the exposure to asbestos fibers, yet did not warn their employees or provide any protective gear for their use.

A young British woman, who has remained anonymous to the media, claims she developed mesothelioma due to the fall-out from a fire at a Ministry of Defense site in 1983 and witnesses are coming forth to support her claims.

According to an article in the Shropshire Star, the Telford woman says her terminal illness was caused by the asbestos fallout from a huge blaze at Central Ordnance Depot Donnington, as it was then known, on June 24, 1983.

The article notes that asbestos in the roof of the burning building was “scattered over more than 15 square miles of east Shropshire and more than £165 million damage was caused.”

The woman is suing both the Ministry of Defense and the company for which her father worked when she was a young child. Currently, she is one of the youngest people on record ever afflicted with this aggressive disease for which the only known cause is exposure to asbestos.

The woman has told her lawyers she remembers playing in the garden at her Leegomery home when the asbestos from the fire fell like “snow”. She was only seven years old when the blaze occurred.
Others have begun to corroborate her story, says attorney Helen Childs. “We had somebody e-mail us directly to say he was a witness and a further three people put messages on the Shropshire Star website to say they were there at the time,” Childs noted.

“My client is really buoyed up by the responses she has had. We hope to have lots of people along at our meetings next week. It really has given my client quite a boost and she is pleased by that.”
The plaintiff is currently hospitalized and has been told she has only weeks to live.