The removal and disposal of asbestos used as a building material is a dangerous, expensive and highly technical process. Contractors who work with the deadly substance usually need to hold a license from the state and require specialized equipment and safety precautions before undertaking any asbestos-related job. If proper procedures are not followed when working with asbestos, not only can there be significant health consequences for the workers, but the contractors also can be liable for significant financial penalties.

In Gibbstown, N.J., local contractor Lovett Contracting is facing legal action and potentially stiff fines from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a result of the alleged improper clean-up and removal of asbestos-containing materials used in a former DuPont Chemical gunpowder plant. The lawsuit alleges Lovett was in violation of the federal Clean Air Act and the National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants regarding asbestos. The EPA is seeking $32,000 per day and per violation as well as court costs, which can ultimately amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars of violations for the contractor.

According to The Gloucester County Times, the EPA allegations listed six violations, including failure to take required precautions in demolishing or removing about 5,000 feet of piping and 3,000 feet of pipe insulation with dangerous amounts of asbestos that could be exposed to the air. Once airborne, the asbestos becomes a hazard to employees and the local community alike.

While the contractor had no comment to local media, EPA spokesman Elias Rodriguez said, “Asbestos is a known carcinogen, and inhalation of asbestos fibers can cause serious health risks.” He noted, “Using water and equipment such as glove bags and other containment measures prevents the release of asbestos fibers and minimizes the chance of exposure.”

However, high government penalties will not save the lives currently in peril because of this added risk of developing asbestos-related cancers. All these fines can do is punish the offenders. They can not take away the pain, suffering and struggle manymesothelioma and asbestosis victims face on a regular basis. Workers are regularly put at risk during these massive asbestos clean-up projects, with little upfront protection.

Isn’t it time to ban this deadly substance? Join us and help us ban asbestos now.

Journalist Mark Bonokoski, recently featured in the London Free Press, has stirred up a lot of controversy in a recent article. While discussing a letter sent by activists to Zimbabwe Dictator Robert Mugabe requesting that he does not reopen the country’s asbestos mines, Bonokoski recommended that the mines indeed be opened to save the economy of the struggling nation.  While the opening of this mine may mildly stimulate the nation’s economy, it will also greatly increase the number of serious and fatal diseases found in the region. Exposure to asbestos has been linked toasbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma, and is estimated to kill more than 107,000 people globally every year.

In the same article, Bonokoski weighed-in on Canada blocking an international agreement to restrict the sale of chrysotile asbestos.  He said of Canada’s pro-asbestos actions: “Quite simply because it was the right thing to do.”  Bonokoski defended his statement by saying that since the government of Quebec awarded a $58-million loan to the owners of the Jeffrey Mine in Asbestos, Quebec, they couldn’t simply just throw their money away.  Apparently Bonokoski believes that two wrongs will make a right.

It is time to ban asbestos throughout the world to prevent exposing any more people to this deadly mineral. Bolstering the global asbestos trade by mining and manufacturing this silent killer should be the last idea on the minds’ of our leaders and journalists.

As reported by Associated Press, those who have lived in the town of Libby, MT for the last few decades have seen around 400 people die and an additional 1,750 suffer from asbestos-related diseases like mesothelioma cancer and asbestosis.  Emotions and anxiety ran high recently when it was discovered the struggle is not yet over.  This week, it was revealed that two giant piles of bark and wood chips that have sat on the edge of town for years are contaminated with an unknown level of asbestos.  Residents have been helping themselves to truckload after truckload of the material to place in yards, city parks, outside school and at the local cemetery.  No one ever told them the piles may be filled with the toxin that has killed so many of the people they loved.

An AP investigation found that the federal government has known for at least three years that the wood piles contained asbestos, but they did not know the level of contamination.  EPA documents show that in 2007, 20 samples were taken from the pile, four of which showed potentially dangerous asbestos fibers.  The piles came from a now-defunct timber mill that took thousands of trees from a forest affected by asbestos from a nearby mine.

The potential for more contamination has frayed nerves in the town of 3,000 people and further eroded confidence in the government to clean up the mess. Resident Lerah Parker, who has spread truckloads of the material around her property, worries, “We thought we were coming to an end and now we have this issue all over again.” Residents are justified to feel concerned about the public health of their town.  Asbestos is one of the only causes of mesothelioma and, unfortunately, themesothelioma life expectancy can be grim.

Residents aren’t the only ones scrambling at this time. The EPA is now trying to gauge the public health risk and is preparing to issue guidelines about how residents should handle the wood, including warnings not to move or work with the material when it’s dry to avoid stirring up asbestos.  But the agency has decided it won’t track down where the chips went, saying it no longer has jurisdiction because the material is now classified as a commercial product.

Libby has fought an uphill battle against asbestos for many years.  This is not a resting point.  They must continue leading the fight for an asbestos-free country.

Bradford Asbestos Victims Support Group fights odious new measure in Britain

Last week the British government revealed measures that could force personal injury claimants to pay legal costs previously paid by the defendant when found at fault. These measures come as part of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill which is the current government’s flagship justice bill.

This would mean that victims of asbestos who suffer from asbestos related diseases such as mesothelioma, asbestos lung cancer, asbestosis and other ailments, who have already lost their health, might also be on the hook for prohibitive legal fees.

“Mesothelioma sufferers endure pain and suffering and an untimely death because of the risks of exposure to asbestos they had to take. Now they are told that they must carry the risks of suing for compensation – isn’t the risk of losing their lives enough? Where is the justice in making dying asbestos victims bear the burden of legal costs on top of the pain and suffering, while rich and powerful insurance companies enjoy relief from costs which the losing party have, and should, rightly bear,” he said.

Mr Briton has lost many friends and colleagues to asbestos-related diseases such as mesothelioma cancer, a rare but aggressive cancer that is only known to be caused by exposure to asbestos fibers.

The government has proposed the changes to the legal system in order to reduce costs by reducing the number of people using the courts.