The legacy of decades of asbestos use is still with us.
The Pump Handle reports that Senator Murray’s hearings included testimony from a worker in the U.S. Capitol tunnels. We reported last year on the asbestos found underneath the Capitol building and the risks it poses to people working down there.
More on the Murry hearings Read More »
The Senate Health Committee’s employment and workplace safety subcommittee held a hearing yesterday and the widow of Bruce Vento testified. Vento was a congressman who died several years ago from mesothelioma. Senator Patty Murray is continuing her crusade to ban asbestos, and reintroduced her bill to ban the material. Murray has tried to get this
Vento testifies; asbestos bill reintroduced Read More »
General Electric is charging $115 million after-tax charge on its accounting books to cover asbestos cases. The company has already paid $500 million to settle asbestos cases, and has 509,000 claims pending. Like many large industrial companies, GE used asbestos in its products, even though it was not a primary asbestos maker. GE’s power turbines
The British Press Association is reporting about 47-year-old woman with mesothelioma who was exposed to asbestos dust as a child. Her father died last year from cancer, and the woman Debra Brewer remembers asbestos on his work clothing when she was young. There are unfortunately many such cases of children being exposed through their father’s
Exposed as a child; sick as an adult Read More »
James Hardie, maker of building products and a long-time seller of asbestos goods, had agreed with the New South Wales government to establish a compensation fund for people with asbestos diseases. The questions was whether the fund would be considered a charity for tax purposes. If it was not, the tax man would take a
Tax ruling will help out Australian mesothelioma victims Read More »
The Associated Press reports that the United Nation’s Environment Programme did not add chrysotile asbestos to the list of hazardous chemicals with special shipping requirements. The Rotterdam Convention, which includes 110 countries, could not agree on this type of asbestos, mainly because of opposition from the countries that export asbestos. Canada, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, and Iran
UN fails to add chrysotile asbestos to list of hazardous chemicals Read More »
There’s a story out of Wisconsin about former employees of CSX Railroad looking into the use of asbestos in their workplace. “They claim asbestos was present in various types of packing materials, gaskets, floor tile, ceiling paint, brake shoes, steam hoses, firebrick, and welding gloves.” More on asbestos exposure.
Railroad workers concerned about asbestos exposure Read More »
A judge had appointed a mediator to try to resolve the dispute between W.R. Grace and victims of asbestos hazards created by that corporation. Today in the news there is a story about the breakdown of that negotiation. Too bad, because this might mean more litigation that W.R. Grace cannot possibly win. Grace tried to
W.R. Grace, victims don’t settle Read More »
In February the US Senate considered, and rejected, a bill to create a trust fund and limit mesothelioma lawsuits. Now Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Spector is trying to resurrect the bill to resolve what he calls a “crisis” in an opinion piece in The Hill. Spector wants to prevent mesothelioma victims from suing for full compensation.
Senator Spector calls for asbestos legislation Read More »
A woman in York, England got mesothelioma, and the way she was exposed to asbestos was from her husband’s work clothing. “Marjorie Fox, 61, is believed to have contracted fatal cancer after almost 20 years of shaking the dust from her husband Kenneth’s overalls which he wore while working as a carpenter before putting them
Woman contracts mesothelioma after exposure to asbestos in husband’s clothing Read More »