Yesterday, the Senate passed the bill sponsored by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) proposing a total ban on the importation of asbestos. The bill goes to the House next, and if approved and not vetoed by the President, the United States will become one of more than 40 nations who have banned the toxic, cancer-causing mineral.

According to an article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Murray campaigned for the bill for more than six years. During that time, she visited countless victims of asbestos-related diseases who told her about their struggles or the struggles of their loved ones as they suffered through the painful illnesses caused by this hazardous material. Murray says she met “lots of widows.”

“Her schedule shows more than 100 meetings on issues surrounding the ban with labor leaders, lobbyists, lawyers, industry leaders and physicians — government and civilian — who were tired of watching their patients die deaths that shouldn’t have happened,” the article notes.

Corporations fought her tooth and nail. “When you go after an issue like this, you’re fighting a lot of big-time money. Lobbyists for manufacturers, the sand and gravel folks, people with commercial interest and a lot of clout fought this,” Murray said. “I wasn’t surprised that many other (lawmakers) didn’t want to get involved because they thought it was impossible.”

For the past seven months, Murray said, she worked closely with Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson of Georgia. He convinced Republicans of the importance of the ban, she said. The senator is confident that the bill will become a law.

“The House leadership said it was waiting for us to act, and I expect them to move quickly,” she said. “And, I have not heard a word from the president about vetoing the bill. We worked for months addressing every possible objection and I think the White House would have a very hard time vetoing this.”

She said the ban would be the best thing she has accomplished “because it will save lives. Lots of them.”

After reviewing studies by the developer of the city’s old Hunters Point shipyard, San Francisco health officials announced that they still believe construction dust from the site won’t harm nearby residents.

According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, late last month, “the state Department of Health Services, working under contract for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, released a review of steps the developer, Lennar Corp., has taken to quell construction dust and to monitor levels of asbestos since grading work began 16 months ago.”

“You and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District have taken many steps to protect the public from dust and asbestos generated during work activities,” Dr. Thomas Sinks, a CDC deputy director, wrote in a Sept. 20 letter to city health officials, referring to protective measures taken by local and regional officials.

While the state department of health still maintains that the dust is at safe levels, locals disagree, noting the rapid rise in headaches, nosebleeds, rashes and asthma that residents have reported in the past 16 months, during demolition and construction at the site.

“The studies have been focused on asbestos, but that should be broadened to test for arsenic, lead, chromium, mercury and other metals. … Blood tests can show that those toxins are very much present in the dust along with asbestos,” said Alicia Schwartz, an organizer with the group POWER, which advocates for environmental and racial justice in neighborhoods.

In July, a number of neighborhood and religious organizations who are opposed to the building at Hunters Point attended a Board of Supervisors meeting to protest the continued construction. However, the board voted 6-5 to allow Lennar to continue without interruption, even after hearing the impassioned pleas of nearby residents.

Former plumber Elroyce Johnson filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Amoco Oil Co. and 58 other companies on Oct. 1 in the Jefferson County (TX) District Court, alleging that his wife developed the aggressive cancer mesothelioma due to exposure to asbestos while laundering his work clothes.

According to an article in the Southeast Texas Record, Maxine Johnson was married to Elroyce from 1961 until her death in 2005. During those years, Mr. Johnson worked at various chemical plants, refineries and utility companies in Jefferson County and surrounding counties as a plumber, pipe fitter and carpenter. He retired in 1994.

“During his career, Mr. Johnson was exposed to asbestos-containing products and exposed Mrs. Johnson to asbestos fibers on his clothes when he came home from work,” the suit said. “Mrs. Johnson contracted lung cancer as a direct and proximate result of Mr. Johnson’s on the job exposure to asbestos-containing products at…various facilities.”

“Defendants were negligent in failing to warn the Plaintiff or her husband of the severe risk to health posed by asbestos exposure and inhalation and were negligent in failing to protect and properly instruct the Plaintiff so as to prevent their exposure to the defective and unreasonably dangerous asbestos products being handled by themselves and others on the different premises,” the suit said.

The lawsuit further alleges that “the Defendants committed spoliation of evidence as a further part of their conspiracy.”

“Having determined that scientific and medical research they possessed or created or knew of was potentially damaging to their defense of meritorious claims such as this, Defendants acted in concert to destroy or conceal such information and prevent it from falling into the hands of their victims.”

Johnson is suing for wrongful death and exemplary damages.

Arizona’s Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) has announced an initiative that will help towns along historic Route 66 deal with asbestos concerns.

“Recent problems with asbestos in Winslow, Holbrook and elsewhere in rural Arizona show the need for a targeted effort by ADEQ to work with communities to address potential asbestos problems and ensure that asbestos-containing material is handled and disposed of properly to reduce the risk of exposure to cancer-causing asbestos fibers,” states an article in the Arizona Capitol Times.

Many small Arizona rural towns along the Route 66 corridor lack the funds and knowledge needed to properly demolish or renovate buildings that were constructed before warnings about the use of asbestos were issued. Much of the asbestos in these buildings – some of them of historic value – is friable or crumbling, making it easy to inhale dangerous asbestos fibers.

“If asbestos is not handled properly during a renovation or demolition, it can present a huge risk to public health, as well as cause the site to become contaminated,” ADEQ Director Steve Owens said. “Through this initiative, we will provide technical assistance to communities to ensure that asbestos is dealt with safely and properly and, if there is contamination, find ways to help the community clean up the site.”

As part of this new initiative, ADEQ has designated an outreach specialist in its air-quality division to provide technical assistance, outreach and asbestos education to rural communities, notes the article. The ADEQ is also adding an additional asbestos inspector and is ensuring that its community liaisons and staff in its regional offices are trained to help communities address asbestos-related issues.

“We want local officials to contact us if they have any questions about potential asbestos problems in their communities,” Owens said. “We also want them to alert us about any improper demolition or renovation activities that can present a risk of asbestos exposure to people.”

“We will be working closely with rural communities all across the state, but we are focusing our efforts first in Northern Arizona,” Owens added.

The principal of a Toronto, Ontario (Canada) high school waited three weeks before he informed parents and students that asbestos abatement was taking place at the school on nights and weekends during the school year.

According to an article in the Globe and Mail, the principal – Varla Abrams – finally informed the school community of the asbestos removal in a September 22nd email newsletter to the student body and parents, which is only sent to those who subscribed to the publication. Even then, said parents, it was hard to find the article, which was buried on a back page.

Sheila Ward, chairperson of the Toronto School District, immediately issued an apology to parents. “We need to be more sensitive at times to what the parents don’t know,” Ms. Ward said when she was asked why the 2,000 students at Northern and their parents were not told about the asbestos when they returned to school.

The newsletter article from the principal was linked to a letter from the engineer that was overseeing the renovation project when asbestos was discovered. That letter stated that “the mastic putty used for interior window caulking at Northern contained asbestos.”

It also noted that “the board’s contractor has removed all asbestos materials and windows from the classrooms on the second and third floor of the southwest side of the high school and the rest will be removed after school hours and during weekends.”

The asbestos removal, the engineer said, will delay the completion of the renovations for two months.

The lack of information left parents feeling deceived. While they observed scaffolding around the school, they were unaware of what was happening. “I was wondering why all that scaffolding was up for such a long time,” said Shauna Callaghan, mother of an 11th grade student. “Well, I guess that answers that question.”

“I think there needs to be, obviously, a letter home to the parents, and probably information packets made available to the kids and to their parents and an apology that we didn’t think to do this at the time. We should be doing that. It should be automatic, I think,” the school board chairperson said.

More than 600 New York subway cars will find a new life in the Atlantic Ocean, many near the Jersey shore, New York City Transit officials announced last week.

According to a report in Newsday, these 17-ton cars, all of which are lined with asbestos and some of which have been in use for more than 40 years, will be finding a new home as artificial reefs deep in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the Garden State and several other states along the Eastern Seaboard.

“They create a cave-like structure that let young hatchlings mature,” said Mike Zacchea, a self-described reef dean for New York City Transit who is also an assistant chief of operations. “Within 30 days, marine life attaches to the car body.”

NYC Transit has been participating in this practice sine 2001, though – in the beginning – there was much debate with environmental groups in regards to the dumping of asbestos-containing vehicles into the ocean. So the state EPA took some time to study the impact the submerged cars would have on aquatic life. The department announced last week that the cars offer a durable habitat and pose negligible impacts on the environment, a spokeswoman said.

However, environmentalists still aren’t convinced. Transit officials, on the other hand, see the dumping of the cars as a great money-saving strategy. If transit otherwise scrapped them, the agency pointed out that removing asbestos from those cars would cost $27 million in additional funds.

Indiana’s Department of Labor (DOL) has begun an investigation to determine whether or not workers at Muncie’s Central High School were exposed to asbestos during renovations that took place last year.

According to an article in The Star Press, the DOL is conducting a “health-related investigation centered around work practices and procedures of contractors at Central High School,” said DOL spokesman Sean Keefer. “It will be two or three weeks before the investigation is closed.”

The DOL notes that an asbestos complaint was filed on May 14th but does not state by whom it was filed. The notice complained that employees of contractors were not provided results of air sampling for asbestos and that these same employees were not allowed to observe air monitoring for asbestos. Also, air sample results provided by the school’s representative were falsified. For example, notes the complaint, results were provided for April 16 and 17, but no samples were collected on either of those days.

For now, construction has been halted in some of the rooms, and spare rooms are being used for classes originally set to take place in those rooms that are currently unusable. However, school officials maintain that students are not in danger.

“There’s no reason to believe any students were exposed,” said Marlin Creasy, superintendent of Muncie Community Schools. “There was never any allegation that students were exposed to anything.”

“It’s a safety issue,” said principal Dick Daniel. “They (workers) are saying there is one area where more (asbestos) abatement needs to happen before they continue working.”

The labor department is not accusing the school system of any violations, said Bill Reiter, director of facilities and operations for the school system. “In fact, they indicated they were very satisfied with us in terms of our records and information,” Reiter said.

Testing last week showed no asbestos in the air at Central High School, Reiter said, adding that testing is now being done by a different company to eliminate any further problems with falsification of test results.