Wisconsin Bill Could Limit Asbestos Lawsuits
By asbestoshub | July 1, 2009
There is a little-known provision sliding through the state budged in Wisconsin which some fear will stop recovery of damages for asbestos cancer.
The proposal, which has not had any public hearing, would limit plaintiffs’ ability to sue companies that merged with smaller companies before 1972.
Supporters of the provision say it is narrowly written to wipe away liability for the Crown Cork and Seal Co. of Philadelphia, which has plants Wisconsin and which has paid out huge damages for buying a company that had previously made asbestos.
Opponents worry the bill could affect lawsuits against more companies than just Crown Cork.
In defense of the legislation, a Crown lobbyist insists the company has already passed similar legislation in 10 states but no company besides Crown has used the provisions to defend itself from lawsuits.
In 1963, Crown bought Mundet Cork Co., a company that had previously made asbestos, for $7 million, McIntosh said. Since then, the company has paid $500 million to asbestos victims.
The proposal is intended to protect companies such as Crown that merged with an asbestos maker by limiting their legal liability in asbestos cases to the present day value of the company that actually made the asbestos. In Crown’s case, the present day value of Mundet would be about $60 million, meaning that Crown would no longer be liable in Wisconsin for any damages under the proposal.
Is that fair?
Topics: Claims, Law, Lawsuits | No Comments »
Don’t Forget Asbestos Claimants in GM Bankruptcy
By asbestoshub | June 25, 2009
Asbestos claimants asked for an official committee in the General Motors bankruptcy case, saying the government’s plan to sell the automaker may be unconstitutional since they’ve been left out of negotiations.
The plan is to sell GM’s best assets to a new company. So where would that leave future asbestos claimants? Probably in the dust.
The sale of Chrysler to a new company owned 20 percent by Fiat SpA is being fought by a group of creditors including asbestos claimants. With good reason, apparently. GM’s liability for asbestos claims was $648 million in 2008 and $637 million in 2007, according to regulatory filings.
The U.S. Trustee appointed a committee of GM’s unsecured creditors that included two people suing GM for asbestos exposure and product liability, lawyers said. Only two?
The automaker filed Chapter 11 on June 1, 2009 after failing to reorganize out of court. Under U.S. bankruptcy law, companies with asbestos-related liabilities can channel legal claims into a trust. Lawyers’ bills and other costs of official committees in bankruptcy cases are typically paid by the company.
Topics: Claims, Exposure, Facts | No Comments »
Town of Marshall, NC Cited For Asbestos Removal Violations
By asbestoshub | June 24, 2009
Sounds like the Town of Marshall, NC was trying to cut some corners and got busted. Now the NC Deptartment of Labor has cited the town of Marshall with some violations for improper removal of asbestos from the town hall.
According to a notification of penalty issued June 5, the town faces $1,750 in fines for failing to properly protect workers when they were tasked with removing tile that contained asbestos.
The citation came after an investigator with the N.C. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Division inspected the town hall, which was recently remodeled, to determine if asbestos had been improperly removed from the building as it was being renovated.
An architect who had previously volunteered to give advice for the renovations filed a complaint with OSHA, claiming the town may have improperly removed asbestos. The Town of Marshall might be reconsidering the idea of just how helpful the volunteer was.
In its report, the Department of Labor listed five violations in the town hall renovations, including unregulated work, and that an exposure assessment was not conducted by a competent person — well except for the volunteer architect, who turned out to be a little too competent — also that the town did not use engineering controls and work practices in accordance with law. Workers were apparently allowed to sweep or shovel asbesto — imagine the dust!! — and that the asbestos work was not supervised appropriately. Most importantly, the workers were not provided with respirators since the town didn’t even attempt to identify the presence, location and quantity of asbestos before beginning the work.
In North Carolina, the state requires asbestos-containing materials to be removed prior to any activity that will disturb the material. “Only North Carolina-accredited asbestos professionals can perform these activities,” according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
Marshall Mayor Lawrence Ponder said Alderman Luther Nix was responsible for the renovation work. “We, the town, were told by Katherine Bond to avoid this problem by putting down commercial carpet and not ripping up the tile. But when Alderman Nix said we’re not going to do that, we figured he knew what he was doing. He was fully responsible” for overseeing the renovations, Ponder said. Yes, point fingers and lay the blame somewhere else.
The mayor, who only votes in case of a tie on the board, said the town aldermen have been embroiled in numerous arguments for more than a year due to a 3-2 split on the board. “I’ve said time and time again, a house divided against itself cannot stand,” he said.
Contacted Monday afternoon, Nix declined to speak on the record about the mayor’s allegations. “What I do is for the people, and the town,” he said.
The town has 15 days to respond to the citations.
Topics: Exposure, Facts | No Comments »
EPA To Clean Up Libby, Montana
By asbestoshub | June 22, 2009
In June 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency declared Libby, Montana a federal public health emergency, vowing to finally finish a cleanup that has languished for nearly a decade, pledging at least $125 million to speed the work of going door-to-door, raising tents over contaminated homes, removing contaminated soil and vacuuming out attics and any other surface once contaminated by miners returning from work.
The initiative has thus far been met with stoicism by local residents; many of whom have endured the presence of asbestos in their midst for as long as they can remember. For over 70 years, ore was brought to processing plants in Libby, where a smokestack released up to 24,000 pounds of dust a day. Waste from the asbestos mine, known as tailings, was used to line an elementary school skating rink and to build running tracks at local junior high and high schools.
In creating Zonolite insulation from vermiculite, W.R. Grace contanimated the town of Libby, causing hundreds to die. Libby, Montana and its population of 2,600 residents, suffers more than double the national average in its rate of death from asbestosis. Lung-cancer mortality is 30 percent higher than health officials would expect the town to experience.
In a recent trial, federal prosecutors detailed the extent of the health problems and the number of deaths blamed on asbestos from mine owner W.R. Grace & Co. and former executives. All were acquitted of knowingly allowing residents of Libby to be exposed to asbestos.
W.R. Grace insisted that after the mine was closed in the 1990’s, it acted responsibly to clean up the contamination, paying millions in medical bills for residents of Libby and Troy and agreed last year to pay $250 million to reimburse the EPA for cleanup efforts.
The EPA has already removed contaminants from more than 1,100 homes in Libby at a rate of abouto 150 properties per year.
Homeowners must agree to have their residence decontaminated, said Michael Cirian, who runs the local EPA office. The owners of some 800 homes have so far either refused the decontamination or couldn’t be located by EPA, he said.
When the EPA has permission to clean a home, they put a plastic tent over the building and workers in asbestos abatement uniforms with respirators vacuum dust from the attic and all the crevices. They also dig up the front and back yard to remove asbestos outside.
The Health and Human Services Department also said it would spend an additional $6 million on medical assistance for residents suffering from asbestos-related illnesses.
Money for medical care is key, said former mayor Tony Berget. Libby is a remote town, and many people haven’t had a lot of money for health problems, he said.
Topics: Exposure, Facts | 2 Comments »
Supreme Court Determines Future of Johns Mansville Asbestos Claims
By asbestoshub | June 18, 2009
In late June, 2008, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Travelers Companies Inc, a U.S. property and casualty insurer, saying a lower court erred in overturning the approval of the company’s nearly $500 million settlement of asbestos-related litigation.
The settlement barred new lawsuits against Travelers as a result of insuring Johns Manville Corp, which mined and manufactured asbestos products. For almost 30 years, Travelers was the primary insurer for Manville and argued that asbestos claims should in future be paid out of an $80M trust created by Johns Manville and approved by a federal bankruptcy judge in 1986.
In return for reaching in excess of $500M in settlements with several plaintiffs for 2003 and 2004 cases, Travelers demanded that future lawsuits be barred.
A bankruptcy court judge and a federal judge in New York in 2006 approved the settlement. But a U.S. appeals court subsequently overturned the approval of the settlement on the grounds the bankruptcy judge lacked the authority to bar new lawsuits. So now the Supreme Court has spoken.
By a 7-2 vote, the Supreme Court reversed the appeals court’s ruling.
Justice David Souter wrote for the court majority that the bankruptcy judge’s orders barred state-law actions against Travelers based on allegations of its own wrongdoing while acting as Manville’s insurer or misuse of information obtained from Manville.
Souter said in the opinion that the finality of the 1986 orders generally stand in the way of challenging their enforceability.
Topics: Claims, Law, Lawsuits | No Comments »
Japan Study Shows 1 in 8 Lung Cancer Cases Due to Asbestos
By asbestoshub | June 8, 2009
Pleural plaques, or a thickening of lung membranes due to asbestos exposure, were found in one in eight lung cancer patients in Osaka, Japan. The finding is documented in medical research papers jointly released by 12 medical institutions.
The research team said the number of people who died from asbestos-related lung cancer could amount to several thousand people per year since roughly 60,000 people die from lung cancer each year in Osaka.
In fiscal 2007, only 660 people were recognized as suffering from asbestos-related lung cancer and thus eligible for government aid, indicating that many lung cancer patients are excluded from the aid as the exposure has not been confirmed as the cause of their diseases.
Between 2006 and 2007, the 12 medical institutions examined 471 patients who were diagnosed with nonmetastatic lung cancer, looking for pleural plaques.
The research team discovered pleural plaques in 28 patients, or 5.9 percent, through chest x-rays, and in 58 patients, or 12.3 percent, through high-resolution computer tomography.
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Man Arrested for Gathering Asbestos Hazard Evidence
By asbestoshub | June 4, 2009
Eugene Roos, a potential whistle-blower who admits taking asbestos samples from a Long Island elementary school he claims is contaminated was arrested for trespassing on Thursday June 4, 2009.
He was released on $200 bail.
Roos took samples of asbestos insulation and shot video of school interiors, then gave them to a local cable news channel. School officials said collecting the asbestos could have released dangerous fibers.
Roos’ attorney says he is not guilty and was simply trying to document hazards.
The school board says because of the allegations, it will retest air quality in all 11 local schools in the district.
If convicted, Roos could face three months in jail.
Well if that’s not a deterrent for whistle-blowing, what is?
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The Lancet Oncology Reports Carcinogenicity of Asbestos
By asbestoshub | June 1, 2009
The May 2009 edition of The Lancet Oncology reports that in March, 2009, scientists from eight countries met at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) to reassess the carcinogenicity of metals, arsenic, dusts, and fibers classified as cancer-causing to humans.
Although asbestos has been banned or restricted in many places, its use is increasing in parts of Asia, South America, and the former Soviet Union. The continued use of asbestos in brake linings, and deterioration of asbestos products contributes to environmental exposure worldwide.
Epidemiological evidence has shown an association of all forms of asbestos with an increased risk of lung cancer and mesothelioma. Although the potency differences for different types of asbestos fibers are debated, the generally-agreed conclusion is that all forms of asbestos are carcinogenic to humans.
There is also evidence to show that asbestos causes cancer of the larynx and of the ovary.
The asbestos carcinogenicity assessments will be published as part C of Volume 100 of the IARC Monographs.
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DHHS To Provide $6M Grant For Libby Residents
By asbestoshub | May 26, 2009
Now that the jury has acquitted W.R. Grace & Company of charges of exposing residents in Libby to asbestos that killed hundreds, Sen. Max Baucus of Montana announced a $6 million grant from the Department of Health and Human Services to provide health care for residents suffering from asbestos-related diseases.
According to Baucus, the grant is a first for federal government money provided for medical care for people in Libby who fell ill after exposure to tremolite asbestos from W.R. Grace’s vermiculite mine. The money also helps lay the groundwork for a future public health emergency declaration, Baucus said, which would authorize cleanup in Libby homes and require the federal government to provide screenings and health care for residents with asbestos-related sicknesses.
“You have no idea how important this is to me because I want to bring justice to the people of Libby,” Baucus said. “This is huge; this is amazing. We’ve been fighting for this for so long.”
Too bad the ineffectual federal prosecutors in the W.R. Grace case didn’t feel the same compunction.
W.R. Grace owned and operated a vermiculite asbestos mine in Libby for decades. But the mine also released tremolite asbestos which sickened people, even with no mining connections. Hundreds died and 2,000 more fell ill from asbestos-related complications.
Topics: Claims, Exposure, Law | 2 Comments »
Canada Releases Chrysotile Asbestos Risk Report
By asbestoshub | May 17, 2009
The Annals of Occupational Hygiene has published a long-awaited report about a debate on the risks of chrysotile, initiated by Health Canada.
The report discusses two meta-analyses of asbestos epidemiological studies for which exposure–response relationships could be estimated, specifically for the risks of chrysotile asbestos mined in Canada. These were Hodgson and Darnton (2000) (here designated H&D) and Berman and Crump (B&C) and general conclusions are as follows:
(1) Chrysotile often occurs in association with tremolite, which is an amphibole and much more persistent in the lung, and it is reasonable to expect that presence of a small amount of tremolite may increase the apparent hazard of the ‘chrysotile’. H&D did not try to discriminate chrysotile cohorts according to the amount of tremolite, so the risk assigned by H&D to chrysotile may include an unknown contribution from tremolite. B&C used available information on the percentage of tremolite present, which is often incomplete, to try to isolate and remove the effect of tremolite from that of chrysotile, so insofar as this was successful, B&C’s estimates are for pure chrysotile without tremolite.
(2) For each cohort, H&D derived an average exposure and an average disease risk and used the results from different cohorts to estimate overall dose–effect relationships. B&C used the disease and exposure information on different subcohorts within each study and estimated the exposure–risk relationship within each study. This meant that H&D could use studies for which there was only one average exposure given, and their single aggregate exposure estimate per cohort was less vulnerable to misclassification of individuals. On the other hand, B&C’s approach enabled them to more systematically adjust for different background lung cancer rates in the cohorts.
(3) In line with classic asbestos risk assessments, B&C assumed linear relationships between disease and exposure, even though they observed some non-linearity for both lung cancer and mesothelioma, but for mesothelioma they assumed that risk depended on the cube of the time since first exposure. In contrast, H&D estimated the best-fitting non-linear relationships. The main difference between the linear and non-linear models shows at low exposures, where there are few epidemiological data to distinguish between them and where the risks are low.
(4) H&D distinguished between pleural and peritoneal mesotheliomas. B&C pooled the two mesotheliomas as one disease.
(5) B&C’s estimates include the Charleston cohort (see below), but H&D’s figures in the table exclude it. They stated the Charleston estimates separately as ‘exceptional’ (unexplainably high) but possible.
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