The owner of a downtown Toledo mall that’s laden with asbestos was given two choices by city officials: “clean it or we’ll close it.”

According to an article in the Toledo Blade, the city plans to shut the doors of the nearly empty Southwyck Shopping Center in South Toledo if its owners do not clean up toxic mold and seal off the asbestos contamination found there by inspectors on May 2, said Chris Zervos, the city’s commissioner of building inspection.

“The present condition of the mall makes it a health hazard for the public and employees working there,” Mr. Zervos said. “They’ll have 72 hours to clean up the mold and secure the asbestos so dust is not allowed to escape into the public.”

Zervos says most of the asbestos can be found in the former Montgomery Ward department store. While that particular facility is closed to the public, maintenance workers who travel through the store on a regular basis are thought to be spreading asbestos throughout the rest of the mall.

“In anticipation of our coming, the maintenance man there swept it up and cut a path through it for us,” Mr. Zervos said. “That of course made it airborne. It’s a tremendous health concern for anyone who is there, anyone passing through the building, [and] for walkers who are there.”

Toledo’s commissioner of environmental services, Tim Murphy, said the roof of the closed Montgomery Ward store has leaked, which caused asbestos-containing insulation to become dislodged and fall off onto the floor.

Tenants and patrons, however, seem unconcerned. “I don’t think we are going to die if we don’t leave right now,” said Barb Porter of Perrysburg, who walks the mall as part of her daily exercise program.

The mall’s manager, Glen Anderson, of MD Management in Mission, Kan., declined to comment.

The family of a Texas man who spent his life working as a pipefitter has filed a second asbestos suit on his behalf, alleging that he died from mesothelioma as a result of exposure to asbestos while on the job.

According to an article in the Southeast Texas Record, the estate of Ernest L. Edwards is seeking compensation for a “different malignant asbestos-related injury,” which they claim prematurely ended his life. Edwards sued several years ago when he developed “an asbestos related disease” and received compensation, the article notes.

The suit was filed earlier this month against the A.O. Smith Corporation and 34 other companies. A.O. Smith manufactures electric motors as well as electric and gas water heaters. The claim alleges that those named in the suit knowingly and maliciously manufactured and distributed asbestos-containing products throughout Jefferson County (Texas). Other defendants named in the suit include aerospace giant Lockheed Martin and Zurn Industries, an iron supplier.

“The petition faults Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Corp. (3M Corporation) and American Optical Corp. for producing defective masks that failed to provide respiratory protection,” the article adds.

Although Edwards has already sued and received a claim, the suit says, “Plaintiff now seeks damages against defendants not released in the previous actions pursuant to Pustejovsky v. Rapid-American Corp.”

In Texas, victims of an asbestos disease such as asbestosis may sue a second time for an asbestos-related cancer if he develops the cancer in the future, after the onset of the original disease.

New data recently released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) notes that soil is “a prominent source of exposure to vermiculite.” The report suggests that the EPA may have to re-examine its criteria to determine what constitutes “a clean site.”

According to an article in The Western News of Libby, Montana, the research came as a surprise to many experts because it suggests that dangers are mainly a result of exposure to outdoor soil around one’s house. Exposure from indoor activities, the study adds, probably comes from tracking outdoor vermiculite via animals or on shoes into the home.

The data does not apply to homes where asbestos is disturbed, or not well contained within the walls of the house, the EPA stresses.

“This is a powerful data set,” said Paul Peronard, On-Site Coordinator for EPA. “It will help us define the first part of endgame,” notably, how the agency decides that a site is properly cleaned.

The exposure investigation centered on four or five indoor and outdoor activities conducted in the town of Libby, which has been ravaged by the former presence of an asbestos-contaminated vermiculite mine owned and operated by W.R. Grace Co. The activities ranged from mowing the lawn to watching television. The EPA made sure to select a variety of sites, including those that were not treated for vermiculite contamination as well as post-remediated properties.

”Scenarios were played out by testers at these sites, with air filters located near their chests that collected dirt samples, recreating the breathing experience of typical activities,” the article points out.

An EPA spokesperson said this information will go far in determining how risk is assessed at various Libby sites.

After the discovery of an abundance of blue asbestos onboard a Church of Scientology cruise ship, Tom Cruise and other celebrity followers of the religion have been urged to undergo immediate medical examinations to test for their exposure to the toxic mineral.

According to an article in an Indian newspaper, Kerala News, Cruise and many other regular passengers aboard the ship have been alerted to potential exposure. Other celebrity visitors aboard the Freewinds passenger ship include Lisa Marie Presley, Natural Born Killers actress Juliette Lewis, jazz great Chick Corea and JAG and Army Wives TV star Catherine Bell.

Currently, the Freewinds is “under seal” in the Caribbean port of Curacao after it was discovered that dangerous blue asbestos was released during the refurbishment of the ship. The asbestos dust may have wound up in the ventilation system and circulated throughout the ship.

The Church of Scientology uses the Freewinds as “an education center” for devotees of the religion. It has also hosted myriad VIP parties. The ship is 40 years old and was built before asbestos guidelines were issued by the U.S. government in the 1970s.

“Anyone who believes they may have been exposed to asbestos should consult a doctor immediately,” said a Scientology spokesperson, noting that those exposed could be at risk for developing the deadly asbestos cancer known as mesothelioma.

Off-road aficionados who frequent the 31,000-acre area known as Clear Creek, located near Hollister, Calif., are angry that the state has closed their favorite recreation spot.

California’s Bureau of Land Management closed about half the Clear Creek Management Area in the Diablo Range last week following a report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) noting that asbestos in the area posed a serious cancer risk to those who work, hike, camp, hunt, collect gems and ride dirt bikes there. Officials will explain their findings tonight at a meeting at the Santa Clara Convention Center, notes an article in the San Francisco Chronicle.

“Clear Creek contains the largest deposits of asbestos in the United States because of its unique combination of faults and volcanic rock,” said Arnold Den, a senior science adviser for the EPA. Though no studies have been conducted among those who frequently dirt bike there, a 2005 University of California (Davis) study found that people living near naturally-occurring asbestos had a significantly higher cancer rate than those who don’t. Asbestos can cause a fatal, aggressive form of cancer known as malignant mesothelioma. The disease is common among tradesmen who worked with asbestos on a regular basis.

The article notes that hundreds of off-road enthusiasts head to Clear Creek each weekend when the weather is pleasant. Most think the type of asbestos found at the recreation area is not toxic and they can’t understand why the state would deny them access to Clear Creek.
“The recreation community is in a state of shock,” said Don Amador, a frequent visitor to Clear Creek and the Western representative for the Blue Ribbon Coalition, an off-road advocacy group.
“It’s unprecedented, as far as public land issues go. We’re going to want to fight it, either administratively or in court.”
No “Clear Creek regulars” have become sick because of asbestos exposure, Amador added.
“We’re asked our friends and family in the off-road community if they’ve heard of anyone getting mesothelioma, and we haven’t found one case,” he said.

In response to myriad reports published in December noting the presence of asbestos in a number of popular holiday toys, the state senate of Connecticut has passed a key bill that would remove lead and asbestos from children’s toys starting as early as the middle of next year. Now that the bill has passed the Senate, it will go to Gov. M. Jodi Rell for her signature.

According to an article in The Courant, the bill would limit the amount of lead in products manufactured or sold after July 1, 2009. On the same date, it would become illegal to use asbestos in children’s toys, and paint that is sprayed on children’s products would need to meet certain standards.

“Now that the science has been allowed to emerge, policy makers have a responsibility to take immediate action to phase out bisphenol A and phthalates from common, everyday products like food and beverage containers,” said Sarah Uhl, coordinator of the Coalition for a Safe and Healthy Connecticut.

The presence of asbestos in toys like the CSI Fingerprinting Kit, which came under fire just before Christmas, has also been a huge issue for the state senate. As a matter of fact, senate members note that the issue was one of the most heavily lobbied of the year.

In a scenario not often staged in the courtroom, the family of a deceased man is suing 73 corporations, alleging that he died of an asbestos-related disease after being exposed to the mineral dust from the clothes of his wife, who worked in the asbestos industry. Similar secondhand asbestos cases generally center on the wife as plaintiff, usually sickened from exposure to her husband’s asbestos-covered clothes.

According to the complaint, Paul Bowen of Ohio, was employed from 1951 to 2004 as a laborer, truck driver, kiln operator, miner and mechanic at various locations. However, Bowen’s wife was employed as a machine operator, maintenance worker, finisher and striper at various locations, including in jobs that involved direct exposure to asbestos.

”Dust created by working with and around asbestos and asbestos-containing products would permeate the person and clothing of the decedent’s wife,” the complaint states.

Bowen was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma last October and died a little more than two months later. According to an article in the Madison-St. Clair Record, the suit names 73 defendants that include Bondex International, CBS, ConocoPhillips, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Goodyear, John Crane, Owens-Illinois, Pharmacia, Shell Chemical and Yarway Corp.

The estate claims “the defendants knew or should have known that the asbestos fibers contained in their products had a toxic, poisonous and highly deleterious effect upon the health of people.”

Bowen’s estate also alleges that “the defendants included asbestos in their products even when adequate substitutes were available and failed to provide any or adequate instructions concerning the safe methods of working with and around asbestos.”

A landfill owner in Carlsbad, New Mexico is being fined more than $1 million for illegally accepting asbestos waste and other hazardous substances at his site, which is licensed only for non-hazardous industrial waste.

According to an article in the New Mexico Business Weekly, the New Mexico Environment Department has issued a compliance order with a $1.3 million penalty to Lea Land Inc. for solid waste violations at its landfill. Purportedly, the company allowed 137 truckloads of hazardous waste, including coated metal siding containing lead and 144 truckloads of regulated asbestos waste, to be dumped at the landfill.
The Environmental Department was tipped off by a concerned citizen who observed the presence of asbestos waste at the landfill. The department found that both regulated and hazardous asbestos waste was generated during the demolition of several facilities belonging to a company known as Intrepid Potash – New Mexico LLC. The waste was transported to the landfill by Tripod Inc.
“The Solid Waste Bureau of the department found that the landfill denied department staff entry to the facility to inspect, failed to properly cover and compact solid waste and failed, on numerous occasions, to conduct required groundwater monitoring,” the article notes.
The owners of the landfill have 30 days to respond to the allegations.

A Jefferson, Wisconsin man was sentenced to 20 days in jail last week for failing to remove asbestos from several buildings he owned before he had them demolished.

According to an article in the Watertown Daily Times, Brian S. Johnson was sentenced to 20 days in jail after Judge Jackie Rohloff Erwin accepted a plea agreement in a Jefferson County Circuit Court.

The article notes that Johnson purchased the old Jefferson County farm and nursing home from the county in March 2005. He hired contractors to renovate, demolish, and burn buildings on the site. However, several agricultural buildings were demolished without first removing asbestos from the structures. Johnson then burned the buildings, a move that was also in violation of Wisconsin’s asbestos and burning regulations.

The violations were detected by the Watertown Health inspector performing asbestos inspections for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

After the violations occurred, Johnson lost the property to foreclosure. The new buyer is now responsible for the clean-up and is currently tending to that task.

The violations were detected by the Watertown Health inspector performing asbestos inspections for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the article notes.

An unscheduled vacation has ended for students at the North Kossuth Elementary School in Bancroft, Iowa after their school was closed for a week due to asbestos concerns.

According to a story aired by KIMT-TV, the most recent tests of the school’s air quality found no more traces of asbestos after initial findings showed that there were indeed asbestos particles in the air.

Nevertheless, parents and staff were still worried about exposure and raised concerns during a meeting on Monday night. Asbestos experts were on hand to answer their questions and allay their fears.

“So you checked the same areas of the building that you checked before?” asked one parent.

“We have a clean environment over there; its healthy, I’m not gonna make it worse than what it is, I would not put your kids in a bad situation,” answered North Kossuth Superintendent Mike Landstrum.

“If they’re comfortable enough with the results that they would send their own child, then that’s comfortable enough for me,” said Ed Spencer, who has two children at the aging school, which was built in 1962, more than 15 years before asbestos regulations were issued by the government.

Iowa state laws as well as federal mandates require the asbestos to be removed from schools. However, North Kossuth Elementary School falls under different rules because it’s leased from nearby St John’s Catholic School, administrators explained.