Jury awards former BNSF worker $3.7 million
By asbestoshub | August 4, 2010
Quoted from http://www.billingsgazette.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article_6508dc08-9e92-11df-b2b3-001cc4c002e0.html
Jury awards former BNSF worker $3.7 million
GREG TUTTLE Of The Gazette Staff | Posted: Monday, August 2, 2010 6:01 pm
A Sheridan, Wyo., man who worked for BNSF Railway for nearly 30 years has been awarded $3.7 million in damages by a Yellowstone County jury.
Edward Roger Jolley, 72, won the verdict late Friday afternoon after a week-long trial before Judge Susan Watters. Jolley’s attorney, Fred Bremseth, said Jolley suffers from chronic lung disease caused by years of inhaling diesel fumes, silicone dust and asbestos while working as a BNSF engineer.
“It’s a real tragic case,” said Bremseth, a Minnesota attorney who specializes in railroad injury cases. “He’s already suffered mightily.”
Jolley was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis in 2006, Bremseth said, and is on oxygen to help him breathe. His condition is chronic and progressive and will result in his death, the attorney said.
Jolley began work with the railroad company in 1970 and retired in 1999 after working mostly as an engineer. He filed the lawsuit last year.
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Asbestosis group to help sufferers
By asbestoshub | July 29, 2010
Quoted from http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/community-telegraph/north-belfast/news/asbestosis-group-to-help-sufferers-14893030.html
Asbestosis group to help sufferers
by Fiona Rutherford
Thursday, 29 July 2010
Two Belfast men have begun a support group for people suffering from asbestos-related diseases.
Arthur Rafferty and Brendan Whyte launched ASNI (Asbestos Support Northern Ireland) after Arthur found a lack of information when he was diagnosed with asbestosis, caused by inhaling deadly asbestos dust.
North Belfast man Arthur contracted the disease over years spent working in the shipyard. He says five doctors failed to diagnose the condition and he had to travel to Liverpool to have it confirmed.
“Throughout England, Scotland and Wales there are a number of asbestos support groups, yet in Northern Ireland there are none,” said Arthur.
“We hope to raise awareness, offer support and act as a life line to those who feel isolated as they have no one to turn to.”
ASNI has won the support of a number of politicians who are helping them obtain funds so they can expand the service.
“We are here to help a large number of people who, to date, have nowhere to turn to,” added Arthur.
There are several diseases associated with asbestos exposure; although not all of them are fatal they all affect the health and quality of life of those who suffer from them. All ARDs are preventable if the right precautions are taken when handling this deadly material, but due to lack of information and poor management people continue to suffer.
Through ASNI, Arthur and Brendan are advising sufferers about state benefits associated with asbestos related diseases, helping them complete paperwork, helping with representation at DSS tribunals.
They have a drop-in centre for people who have been affected by an asbestos-related disease, to speak with someone who truly understands.
People who are too ill to come to them can avail of their home call out service.
The charity is also campaigning and fundraising for research into mesothelioma a deadly cancer that attacks the lining of the lungs, heart or abdomen and is almost exclusively caused by exposure to asbestos.
They even aim to provide a respite service aimed at helping those who suffer due to an ARD take a weekend break and relax.
They are in the process of setting up an online community in which people can share stories and advice.
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Our family lives in fear of asbestos poisoning… all because of dad’s job
By asbestoshub | July 27, 2010
Quoted from http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/our-family-lives-in-fear-of-asbestos-poisoning-all-because-of-dadrsquos-job-14890207.html
Our family lives in fear of asbestos poisoning… all because of dad’s job
Did lethal dust brought home on work clothes |condemn son to death?
By Lisa Smyth
Monday, 26 July 2010A northern Ireland man has told how he and seven of his |siblings are being treated for asbestos-related lung damage possibly passed on by their father who worked in a Belfast shipyard.
Sean Rickard has told how out of nine brothers and sisters, seven have been diagnosed with lung damage linked to the lethal fibres.
Another sibling has recently finished treatment for mesothelioma — a rare form of lung cancer attributed to exposure to asbestos during his childhood.
Their father Patrick Rickard, who died in 1974 from a lung condition linked to asbestos, worked as a pipe coverer spraying the substance in Harland and Wolff shipyard from 1949 to 1969. Like all the men who worked there during the era, he was completely oblivious to the poison he was bringing home to his family on a daily basis.
Nobody knew that every time he returned to the small two-bedroom house he lived in with his wife Annie and their nine children he was potentially condemning the people he loved most to death.
At the very least, they all now live in the knowledge that at any time they could be diagnosed with a terminal illness because of their contact with asbestos.
Sean, who was diagnosed with mesothelioma in January and has undergone surgery and chemotherapy to control his tumour, explained: “My father stopped working in 1969 because of ill health and eventually died as a result of his exposure to asbestos during work. My mother had pleural plaques and died from lung cancer which we believe was almost certainly caused by asbestos.
“We used to play with my father when he came home, my brother and I would play with the protective mask he was supposed to wear. My sisters would comb his hair which was full of asbestos dust.
“We would all help my mother shake the dust off his clothes before they were washed. We only had two bedrooms in the house and when we were babies we would sleep in our parents’ room where my father’s work clothes were. We didn’t have a washing machine so the clothes couldn’t be washed every time they were worn.”
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Wis. Supreme Court Denies Asbestos Death Claim
By asbestoshub | July 22, 2010
Quoted from http://www.claimsjournal.com/news/midwest/2010/07/22/111791.htm
Wis. Supreme Court Denies Asbestos Death Claim
July 22, 2010
The Wisconsin State Supreme Court says a brake maker wasn’t negligent in a machinist’s death.
Walter Tatera, a former Hales Corners machine shop worker, died of cancer in 2004. His estate sued FMC Corp., a Milwaukee brake manufacturer, alleging disks the company sent to Tatera’s shop contained asbestos and caused his cancer.
A Milwaukee judge found the company was not liable or negligent in Tatera’s death. A state appeals court last year, however, ruled FMC could be sued for negligence.
The Supreme Court reversed that ruling in a 4-3 decision. The court says FMC’s conduct didn’t amount to affirmative negligence.
Jill Rakauski, an attorney for Tatera’s estate, says she’s disappointed and believes the estate should be allowed to make a claim.
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Canada should stop asbestos exports: Ignatieff
By asbestoshub | July 22, 2010
Quoted from http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Investigation+slams+asbestos+industry/3307407/Canada+should+stop+asbestos+exports+Ignatieff/3305310/story.html
Canada should stop asbestos exports: Ignatieff
By Kevin Dougherty, Montreal Gazette July 21, 2010
QUEBEC — Reacting to a report by the BBC and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists suggesting asbestos could be linked to millions of deaths by 2030, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff said Wednesday that Canada should stop exporting the fibrous mineral.
“Now is the time for a transition to a new future,” Ignatieff said when his Liberal Express bus, which is touring Canada this summer, arrived in Quebec City.
Quebec is the major Canadian source of asbestos, used in the past for insulation, fireproofing and in brake linings, but now used mostly to reinforce concrete cheaply in Third World applications.
“I think it has become impossible to export a product like that because we can’t have guarantees that it will not be harmful in India or in other countries,” he said.
“It is clear we still have to work with the workers in this region who have worked for generations to find other ways,” Ignatieff said. “And I will never abandon the asbestos workers who worked in good faith.”
The Quebec cabinet still has not decided whether to grant a $58-million loan guarantee, to allow the Jeffery underground asbestos mine to reopen, in the town of Asbestos, southwest of Quebec City.
“I never offer advice to the Charest government,” Ignatieff said. “I want to work with the Charest government, not give lessons to the Charest government.
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Investigation slams asbestos industry
By asbestoshub | July 22, 2010
Quoted from http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Investigation+slams+asbestos+industry/3307407/story.html
Investigation slams asbestos industry
9-month probe. Report threatens government loan
By MONIQUE MUISE; KEVIN DOUGHERTY of The Gazette contributed to this report, The Gazette July 22, 2010 7:18 AM
MONTREAL - The fight to keep a controversial mineral flowing out of the tiny Quebec town that bears its name has been dealt a major blow at the hands of one of the world’s largest media organizations.
The British Broadcasting Corp., in partnership with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, released the results yesterday of an intensive nine-month investigation into the global asbestos industry and the Montreal-based Chrysotile Institute’s key role in marketing the mineral abroad.
The negative publicity couldn’t come at a worse time for the town of Asbestos, which has been anxiously awaiting approval of a $58-million loan guarantee from the provincial government that would allow for the expansion of its Jeffrey Mine. The mine produces chrysotile asbestos which is exported largely to the developing world.
“This is enormously damaging to us, especially at a time when we’re seeking government support,” said Bernard Coulombe, president of the mine. “It’s terrible publicity.”
The joint investigation, titled Dangers in the Dust, is also a public relations nightmare for the Chrysotile Institute, a publicly funded entity that champions asbestos mining in the province.
“The federal and provincial governments have given the Chrysotile Institute $35 million over the past 25 years,” said Jim Morris, one of the journalists spearheading the BBC/ ICIJ investigation. “There is strong support there.”
In Canada, asbestos production is centered entirely in Quebec. The province shipped a total of $97 million of raw fibre overseas in 2008, and is currently the world’s fifth-largest producer of asbestos and its fourth-largest exporter.
Despite this, Morris said the government’s ongoing endorsement of the Chrysotile Institute and the asbestos industry in general remains “something of a mystery” considering the strong criticism coming from medical and scientific experts all over the globe, who maintain that asbestos is dangerous and should be banned outright.
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Approved Congoleum Bankruptcy Plan Puts All Asbestos Claims in Same Boat
By asbestoshub | July 21, 2010
Quoted from http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202463755825
Approved Congoleum Bankruptcy Plan Puts All Asbestos Claims in Same Boat
Mary Pat Gallagher
New Jersey Law Journal
July 21, 2010
After nearly seven years and more than a dozen failed attempts, a reorganization plan allowing Congoleum Corporation to emerge from bankruptcy has finally met with a federal judge’s approval.
The Chapter 11 plan, approved June 7 and effective July 1, establishes a fund to pay an estimated 100,000 plus asbestos claimants. Congoleum’s insurers — whose refusal to cover the mounting volume of those claims triggered the bankruptcy — are to contribute $253 million, and the reorganized Congoleum has pledged 50.1 percent of its equity.
All asbestos claimants — even those who agreed to settle before the bankruptcy case was filed on Dec. 31, 2003 — are placed in the same class and their claims are to be processed through the plan trust and resolved in the same manner.
In an opinion issued Monday, U.S. District Judge Joel Pisano in Trenton said the single-class placement is consistent with In re Combustion Engineering, 391 F.3d 190 (3d Cir. 2005), which held that a pre-bankruptcy settlement with some asbestos claimants violated the Bankruptcy Code’s requirement of equality of distribution among creditors. That ruling changed the landscape for resolving mass claims in the bankruptcy context.
The approved Congoleum plan wiped clean a series of settlements with various groupings of claimants both before and during the bankruptcy case.
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India’s expanding use of asbestos brings dire warnings
By asbestoshub | July 21, 2010
Quoted from http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/07/21/97621/indias-expanding-use-of-asbestos.html
India’s expanding use of asbestos brings dire warnings
Asbestos use is growing quickly in developing countries like India. | Photo: Sonumadhavan
By Murali Krishnan and Shantanu Guha Ray | International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
NEW DELHI — Every day, the swirling waters of the Arabian Sea bring misery to Alang, the world’s largest shipbreaking yard, in western India’s Gujarat state.
An estimated 55,000 workers, unmindful of the lethal effects of asbestos-laden material in the vessels, slave for long hours taking apart old ships and, in the process, are exposed to deadly fibers.
The Indian government is aware of the risks but loath to interfere: The men need jobs, and India’s economy, among the world’s fastest-growing, needs secondary steel from the beached vessels.
“Reclamation and recycling,” said Pravin Nagarsheth, the president of the Iron Steel Scrap and Shipbreakers Association of India, “is a highly lucrative business.”
One hundred-twenty miles north of Alang, workers at hundreds of dusty asbestos factories in the city of Ahmedabad face similar hazards in the name of economic development: lung cancer, asbestosis and a rapacious malignancy called mesothelioma, usually found in the chest cavity. In this case the end product is asbestos sheet, widely used in construction.
The two locales are centers of an emerging epidemic of asbestos-related disease in India.
Valued for its heat and fire resistance, asbestos was once widely used worldwide, but 52 countries ban or restrict it now. The use of the mineral is banned entirely in the European Union. In the United States — where it’s blamed for some 200,000 deaths and has cost the industry $70 billion in damages and litigation expenses — asbestos use is limited to a handful of products, such as automobile brakes and gaskets, and rarely used even in those.
In India, however, asbestos use is booming.
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Lobbyists push use of deadly asbestos in developing nations
By asbestoshub | July 21, 2010
Quoted from http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/07/21/97625/lobbyists-push-use-of-deadly-asbestos.html
Lobbyists push use of deadly asbestos in developing nations
MCT
By Jim Morris | International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
WASHINGTON — A global network of lobby groups has spent nearly $100 million since the mid-1980s to preserve the international market for asbestos, a known carcinogen that’s taken millions of lives and is banned or restricted in 52 countries, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has found in a nine-month investigation.
Backed by public and private money and aided by scientists and friendly governments, the groups helped facilitate the sale of 2.2 million tons of asbestos last year, mostly in developing nations. Anchored by the Montreal-based Chrysotile Institute, the network stretches from New Delhi to Mexico City to the city of Asbest in Russia’s Ural Mountains. Its message is that asbestos can be used safely under “controlled” conditions.
As a result, asbestos use is growing rapidly in countries such as China and India, prompting health experts to warn of future epidemics of lung cancer, asbestosis and mesothelioma, an aggressive malignancy that usually attacks the lining of the lungs.
The World Health Organization says that 125 million people still encounter asbestos in the workplace, and the United Nations’ International Labor Organization estimates that 100,000 workers die each year from asbestos-related diseases. Thousands more perish from exposures outside the workplace.
Dr. James Leigh, the retired director of the Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health at the Sydney School of Public Health in Australia, has forecast a total of 5 million to 10 million deaths from asbestos-related cancers by 2030, an estimate he considers conservative.
“It’s totally unethical,” Jukka Takala, the director of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work and a former International Labor Organization official, said of the pro-asbestos campaign. “It’s almost criminal. Asbestos cannot be used safely. It is clearly a carcinogen. It kills people.”
Indeed, a panel of 27 experts convened by the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer reported last year, “Epidemiological evidence has increasingly shown an association of all forms of asbestos … with an increased risk of lung cancer and mesothelioma.”
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Asbestos’ U.S. legacy may be half-million deaths
By asbestoshub | July 21, 2010
Quoted from http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/07/21/97624/asbestos-us-legacy-may-be-half.html
Asbestos’ U.S. legacy may be half-million deaths
Anthophyllite asbestos fibers viewed through an electron microscope. | U.S. Geological Survey
By Jim Morris | International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
WASHINGTON — The first sign of trouble came as Bill Rogers was mowing his lawn one January morning in 2007. “As I would go back and forth with the mower, I would run out of air,” said Rogers, 67, of Palm Bay, Fla.
Rogers went to the doctor and learned that his right lung was full of fluid. Three days later he was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a lethal tumor that occurs in the lining of the chest or the abdomen and almost always is associated with asbestos exposure. “I’d heard of it, but I didn’t really know what it was,” he said. “They told me it’s not a good cancer to get.”
That Rogers is alive more than three years after his diagnosis is something of a miracle. To him, the source of his illness is clear: He worked on or around asbestos-containing automobile brakes, mostly at General Motors dealerships, for 44 years. He and his co-workers had used compressed-air hoses to clean out brake drums, where debris from worn asbestos brake shoes would collect, and had filed and sanded the shoes when installing new brakes.
Although he routinely wore a respirator while sanding plastic filler during bodywork, he said, no one ever told him he needed one for brake work. He sued GM, Ford, Chrysler and seven manufacturers and suppliers of brakes and clutches in 2008 and settled with the last of them in 2009.
Rogers is among hundreds of former mechanics and body shop employees known to have developed mesothelioma after working on brakes, clutches and gaskets, which contained the most common form of the mineral — chrysotile, or white, asbestos — well into the 1990s. Many have sued auto manufacturers and parts makers, litigation that reflects the unceasing burden of asbestos disease in the United States.
Asbestos has decimated the ranks of miners, millers, factory workers, insulators and shipyard workers, some of whom began filing workers’ compensation claims as far back as the 1930s. The modern era of asbestos lawsuits began in the 1970s with claims from these same groups of workers. Many had taken in massive doses of fiber and died of diseases such as asbestosis, which can develop within a decade of initial exposure. Some of the cases involved mixtures of amosite, or brown, asbestos, which is no longer used, and chrysotile.
In court now, aside from a few heavily exposed claimants, are mechanics, teachers from asbestos-filled schools and the wives and children of workers who brought home asbestos on their clothing. Most of these people had relatively light exposures and developed mesothelioma, a disease that can take 30, 40 or even 50 years to appear.
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