Officials at Indiana University report that they hope to have dangerous asbestos removed from all dormitory buildings by 2012, a much quicker timetable than first planned.

According to an article in the Indiana Daily Student (IDS), the university’s on-campus newspaper, plans to remove asbestos came to fruition in 2005 after the newspaper reported damaged asbestos in several residence halls. University officials thought it would take up to 10 years to complete the abatement but credits the newspaper for getting the ball rolling.

Residential Programs and Services Executive Director Pat Connor said: “When all’s said and done, by 2012 it’s safe to say that none of the residential buildings will have asbestos in the environment, and that’s kind of what we pledged when we responded to the IDS articles.”

In the meantime, he stresses, the college has improved their asbestos management program, including communication between inspectors and university higher-ups.

“Before 2005, there weren’t regular inspections of the asbestos going on, at least in all of the buildings,” said Environmental Health and Safety Management Acting Director Michael Jenson. “Also, the big thing that happened is we started talking with different groups on campus a lot more about asbestos and where it is, what we’re doing about it.”

Because most of the buildings on the Bloomington campus were built before 1980, most contain asbestos in some form or another. Abatement is being carried out by licensed professionals and during the procedures proper safety precautions will be in place so that no one is at risk, university officials stressed.

The United Steelworkers (USW) Union of Canada has announced that the province of Newfoundland has established a much-needed registry that will track former workers at the now-defunct Baie Verte Asbestos Mine, helping the union identify those who may have developed asbestos-related diseases due to their work at the mine.

The announcement came earlier this week from the USW and the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission (WHSCC) of Newfoundland and Labrador, notes a press release by the USW.

“This is a breakthrough agreement for the USW and workers everywhere and, with the critical information obtained through the registry, it will be a turning point for fair compensation for victims of occupational disease,” said USW Ontario/Atlantic Health, Safety and Environment Coordinator Nancy Hutchison. “We hope this announcement will set the pattern for other compensation boards and governments across Canada as we continue to strive for justice for workers and their survivors.”

The registry, which will be compiled by local Memorial University, will include such information as employment history, asbestos exposure information, and current health status. The goal is to locate all former mine workers (or their survivors) and encourage them to register, the press release explains.

The Baie Verte Asbestos Mine operated from 1963 to 1992 and employed approximately 3,000 miners and other employees during that time period. The union is aware that many of the workers have already died of asbestos-related diseases or are currently fighting illnesses such as asbestosis or mesothelioma.

“This agreement recognizes the long-term commitment of the USW to the Baie Verte miners and to the many health and safety activists across Newfoundland and Labrador, and in all of Canada who fought for this agreement,” said USW Staff Representative Boyd Bussey. “Steelworkers will continue to work with the WHSCC to see the results of the registry turned into fair compensation for the Baie Verte miners and their families.”

Canada has been under pressure from other countries throughout the world to cease the mining of asbestos. A few asbestos mines still remain in Quebec Province and administrators for those mines maintain that the type of asbestos being mined there – chrysotile or “white” asbestos – is safe.

The presence of asbestos in two landmark Buffalo, New York structures is slowing the demolition of the buildings and costing the city a fortune as asbestos must be abated before the buildings can come down.

According to an article in The Buffalo News, the city is spending about $12 million in funds to remove the toxic mineral from the Memorial Auditorium and the Donovan State Office Building in downtown Buffalo prior to demolition.

“It’s an unavoidable, necessary part of getting those buildings gone so we can redevelop the Buffalo waterfront,” said Jordan A. Levy, chairman of the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp. “We’re doing everything we can to get it out the fastest, safest way possible, but you can’t be cheap when it comes to asbestos removal.”

The article reports that since abatement efforts started in April (for the auditorium) and June (for the state building), licensed contractors have removed approximately 1,250 tons of asbestos-tainted materials from the buildings. If the material was not removed prior to demolition, asbestos fibers would become airborne, affecting those in the vicinity of the buildings, including both workers and nearby residents. Asbestos exposure is known to cause malignant mesothelioma, a serious cancer that affects the lining of the lungs, heart, or abdomen.

Removing asbestos from the auditorium has been especially cumbersome, officials note, because it’s been found in unusual places. One example cited the presence of a 1/16th inch asbestos membrane that formerly served as insulation for the ice surface, used for hockey and figure skating.

“So we can’t just bust up the floor as part of the demolition. We have to get that barrier out of there,” said Mark E. Smith, the harbor development agency’s director of construction.

In the office building, Smith indicated, asbestos is more predictable and usually can be found in floor and ceiling tiles and as pipe insulation.

In total, more than 100 asbestos-remediation specialists have been working at the two sites each day. It is hoped that abatement will be complete by the end of September.

The town of Nevada, Missouri made a decision ten years ago to remove all dangerous asbestos from its schools and seven years into the project, they are nearing the end of their endeavor.

According to an article in the local Nevada Daily Mail, the Nevada R-5 School District reports that with this summer’s projects coming to an end, most of the district’s buildings have been abated and just pockets of asbestos remain in a few buildings.

“We’ve been working on a 10-year plan since 1999 on a prioritized list of projects,” said Kristi Peterson, the district’s assistant superintendent. “It was a highly specialized process to make the list and we had to consider many different criteria to determine what projects should be undertaken first.”

Peterson said the district manages their asbestos through strict guidelines offered by the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act. “All areas that have asbestos have to be inspected every six months, it’s called the six month surveillance,” Peterson explained. “We’re fortunate that we do all of our management through an environmental management company out of Kansas City. Eight years ago we aligned with them; we were one of the first to do so. They provide inspectors to insure that we are in compliance.”

Peterson said the district’s custodial staff is all trained in the handling of asbestos and that the maintenance supervisor is a trained asbestos inspector. She added that the project has taken a lot of resources over the years.

“It’s been a huge undertaking,” Peterson said. “The majority has been floor tiles but we’re about to wrap it up. It’s been an enormous expense and responsibility. The moment we can drop that off it will be a huge savings to the district.”

A New York resident who removed asbestos from a Paterson, NJ church without a license and allowed dangerous fibers to circulate throughout the building has pleaded guilty to violations of the Federal Clean Air Act and faces a total of three years in prison.

According to an article in The Herald, Tyrone Maple, age 51, of the Bronx section of New York, removed asbestos insulation at Friendship Baptist Church without a license and without observing federal and state laws intended to protect health and safety. One of the affected parts of the church housed the Whole New World Daycare Center.

Maple is a member of the church and a boilerman who has worked at various jobs throughout the area. Though he was not licensed for asbestos abatement, he made a contract with the church and charged them $6,200 for the work, which was performed last December.

When a church member complained of dust and said he suspected asbestos contamination, church officials hired a company to test the air quality inside the building. The company found unacceptable levels of asbestos on the first floor, including in the area that houses the daycare center. The church closed for several days and a licensed abatement professional was brought in to clean up the dust.

Peter Aseltine, spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office, said exposure could be significant because the elevated levels of asbestos in the building existed during a period of almost two months before being discovered and cleaned up.

“This crime could have posed serious health risks for the young children in that day-care center,” state Attorney General Anne Milgram said in a written statement. “To turn a profit, this defendant took chances with families who had few affordable alternatives for child care.”

Officials in Wisconsin have announced that a church explosion that happened back in April may have spread dangerous asbestos particles throughout the community in which the building was located.

According to a story on Newsradio 620 Milwaukee, the First Baptist Church building in Oconomowoc was probably full of asbestos construction materials when it blew up – typical of structures built in the first half of the twentieth century – and the explosion probably launched pieces of asbestos or asbestos dust into the air.

The First Baptist Church hadn’t removed asbestos used in the building’s original construction, the story states. Wisconsin State Department of Natural Resources asbestos expert Mark Davis believes that it is quite possible that the explosion may have put local residents in contact with the toxic mineral.

“During the event, I’m sure there was probably was some exposure,” Davis confirmed, noting that local officials did not warn residents to be aware of the presence of asbestos because they had focused their efforts on the cleanup of a nearby beach park.

However, Davis believes the threat of exposure is probably non-existent at this point as any wind or rain should have blown or washed away the particles.

The mayor of Oconomowoc refused to address any questions posed to him as to why residents were not notified of the asbestos threat immediately after the explosion.

The federal judge presiding over the W.R. Grace asbestos case has not yet set a trial date but has ordered all parties to appear in his court for a status hearing in early October. It is expected that a trial date may be set at that meeting.

According to a story aired on KPAX – TV news, Judge Donald Molloy signed the order for the hearing on July 9 after receiving two notices from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The mandates from the appellate court stated that the circuit’s decisions in the Libby case are now in effect and that, for all intents and purposes, the appeals process is over and Grace will not be able to stall the case any longer.

Though Molloy did not specifically state that he would indeed schedule the start of the trial at the October 1 meeting, those close to the case believe that the judge is anxious to get started, especially given the amount of time it took to deal with pre-trial motions and extensive appeals on the part of the W.R. Grace attorneys.

Molloy has attempted to set trial dates in the past but appeals have always caused them to be cancelled. In the meantime, prosecutors for the plaintiff – The Justice Department - told the Supreme Court that “time is critical, because Libby asbestos victims are dying.”

Residents in public housing developments in South Yorkshire, England have had to move from their homes a second time due to the threat of asbestos contamination.

An article in The Star reports that the Doncaster Council has moved residents out of 36 flats on the St. James Estate after workers modernizing the units encountered traces of dangerous asbestos during their work.

A similar incident occurred just a few weeks ago in another block of Doncaster Council homes. Residents of The Crescent, Woodlands, were removed from their homes for three weeks and finally returned this week after asbestos was found in those units as well.

Officials believe the residents affected by this latest episode will not be able to return to their flats until sometime in August. Doncaster College University Centre student Tshiama Nambombe, aged 48, is one of the displaced tenants.

“You think of asbestos as being seriously dangerous, so it was a real shock to hear what was happening,” he said. “They have told me it will be more than two weeks until we can go back. They originally told me it would be a week, and I only have a few things that I was able to take away.

“We’re expecting to be here (at other accommodations) until August 10 - it has been a big surprise, but we’re being well looked after. I need my books for my course but if it is the books or my health, it’s worth it. In the meantime, I’m having to struggle by without my things.”

The Mayor of Doncaster, Martin Winter, said risk to tenants was quite low but that they prefer to take extreme precautions rather than put anyone’s health in jeopardy. “I would like to thank all residents for their patience and understanding at this time,” he added.

The ceilings in the Columbia County Courthouse in Portage, Wisc. are full of asbestos and the hazardous material will have to be ripped out to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars, reports the city’s building and grounds department director.

According to an article in the Portage Daily Register, abatement will need to be done on the hallway ceilings of all three levels of the courthouse. “A recent asbestos inspection of the courthouse — spurred by the late March discovery of asbestos that led to the district attorney’s office being shut down for half a day — turned up a ‘big shocker’ in the hallway ceiling tiles,” says the director Corey Wiegel.

Other areas containing asbestos – about 16 in all – can be handled in a less costly manner, Wiegel explained. Ceiling tiles in the offices and courtrooms do not contain asbestos, the article noted, although some pipes in the ceiling have asbestos insulation which will need to be covered but not removed. That will keep down the costs, Wiegel notes.

No date has been set for the work but Wiegel hopes that it can be completed on a weekend when employees are not there and court is not in session. He stresses, however, that during the abatement process all necessary precautions will be taken and no health hazards will be present. But this may not be the end of the Columbia County Courthouse’s asbestos woes.

“Would the ceiling project, and the minor abatement projects at the 16 other asbestos-containing sites, leave the courthouse completely free of asbestos?” asked building and grounds committee member, Don DeYoung. “If we go ahead with this, can we say we’re in the clear?”

No, said Wiegel.

According to the report, there are several other places in the courthouse which are likely to contain asbestos, though its presence was not definitely confirmed in the inspection. If a major construction or demolition project were to be proposed at the courthouse, Weigel said, inspections would probably need to be done again and further abatement may be necessary.

A woman who claims her father died of mesothelioma due to asbestos exposure while working for industrial giant DuPont De Nemours and Co. is suing the company and 13 others in a Texas court for an undisclosed amount of money.

According to an article in the Southeast Texas Record, Brandy Kieschnick filed suit against E.I. DuPont De Nemours and Co. and several other companies in Orange County District Court approximately two years after her father’s death in 2006. Walter Dunn, according to the complaint, worked as an inspector and pipefitter for DuPont and other companies for a “period of many years.”

Dunn was exposed to asbestos “while working in powerhouses, refineries, commercial buildings, steel mills and plants,” the suit says, adding that he “inhaled great quantities of asbestos fibers.”

Other defendants in the suit include Viacom, Union Carbide and Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. The suit alleges that the insurance company was “negligent in failing to convey and actively suppressed information regarding the dangers of asbestos.” Most of the other defendants are manufacturers or sellers of asbestos-containing products.

Kieschnick seeks compensation for Dunn’s “physical pain and suffering in the past and future, mental anguish in the past and future, lost wages, loss of earning capacity, disfigurement in the past and future, physical impairment in the past and future, past and future medical expenses, and attorneys’ fees.”