In researching for my upcoming visit to Washington, D.C., to attend the International Symposium on Malignant Mesothelioma, I was encouraged to find some news from the office of Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH). He has recently gone on the record with strong objections to the continued use of asbestos in America and around the world. Asbestos, of course, is linked to mesothelioma as its only proven cause.

In a news release from his office on Capitol Hill, Kucinich says, “Asbestos is a highly toxic material that has no place in construction projects here or anywhere else, especially when viable alternatives are available.” In the past, asbestos was used for fire protection, but there are other modern materials available now that preclude the necessity for using asbestos. Still, it is included in many construction materials today, including roofing shingles.

The statement was spurred by a letter of inquiry that Kucinich spearheaded, to urge The World Bank to finalize a construction guidance that would drastically reduce the use of asbestos in new construction projects. The report was commissioned in 2006, and completed in 2008, but its release has been stalled. Kucinich, joined by four other members of Congress, urged World Bank to release the guidance immediately.

The World Bank is not a bank in the usual sense, but  is a source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries worldwide. It is made up of two development institutions owned by 185 member countries. The World Bank carries out projects and provides a wide variety of analytical and advisory services to help meet the development needs of individual countries and the international community.

Regarding asbestos, the 2009 Guidance says, “Health hazards from breathing asbestos dust include asbestosis, a lung scarring disease, and various forms of cancer … Mesothelioma, a signal tumor for asbestos exposure, occurs among workers’ family members from dust on the workers’ clothes and among neighbors of asbestos air pollution point sources. Some experimental animal studies show that high inhalation exposures to all forms of asbestos for only hours can cause cancer.”

Kucinich says, “Global asbestos use is on the rise at the very time it should be eliminated.”

Read the full text of the 17-page Guidance on Asbestos.

Reuters news service reported on Friday that W.R. Grace & Co. stock value jumped 36 percent following the company’s aquittal on criminal charges. The company, along with seven of its executives, had been on trial since Feb. 19 in the U.S. District Court in Missoula, Montana.

A federal grand jury charged the company and executives in February 2005 with knowingly exposing workers at its vermiculite asbestos mine, and residents of the nearby town of Libby, Montana, to deadly asbestos fibers. A June 2008 Supreme Court decision upheld the grand jury’s findings and allowed the case to proceed to trial.

However, on Friday, May 8, a jury aquitted the company and five of the executives of all criminal charges. Two company executives had already been dismissed during the trial proceedings.

Asbestos exposure is linked to serious health problems, including asbestosis, a severe scarring of the lungs, and mesothelioma, a deadly cancer that affects the lining of the lungs and, more rarely the stomach and/or heart. Studies of former W.R. Grace & Co. miners, and residents of nearby Libby, have indicated that 227 people have died to date from asbestos disease, and there are more than 1,800 active cases of asbestos disease. Of that number, 77 deaths are attributed to secondary, non-occupational exposure, affecting people who never worked in the mine.

W.R. Grace & Co. is based in Columbia, Maryland, and is worth $945 million, according to the Reuters report. The news agency reports the stock value has now doubled in 2009, at $13.06 per share, after a four-year low of $2.96 in November.

The W. R. Grace & Co. criminal trial continues in Missoula, Montana, but this week two executives on trial for environmental crimes have been dismissed from the case. Robert Walsh was dismissed Monday, and William McCraig was dismissed from the case Thursday morning. Judge Donald Molloy is presiding over this case. Defense attorneys have been seeking to have the entire case dismissed for prosecutorial misconduct, but on April 29 Judge Molloy issued an order not to dismiss the case.

The trial began Feb. 19 in U.S. District Court. A federal grand jury charged W.R. Grace & Co. in February 2005, along with seven of the company’s executives and managers. In June 2008, a Supreme Court decision upheld the grand jury’s findings and the court date was set. The company and its executives are charged with knowingly exposing workers at the Libby, Montana mine, and residents of the town of Libby, to hazardous asbestos.

The asbestos is found in vermiculite, which was mined in Libby for many years. Hundreds of people in Libby have died as a result of asbestos-related diseases, including asbestosis, a severe scarring of the lungs, and mesothelioma, a deadly cancer that affects the lining of the lungs and, less commonly, the stomach and/or the heart.

W.R. Grace defense lawyers are currently presenting their case to the court. It is estimated that the case will go to the jury by the end of next week.

If you are interested in following this case, there is an excellent blog site, Grace Case, which is a joint project of the School of Law and the School of Journalism at the University of Montana. The site provides reports from the courtroom from either a news or legal analysis standpoint, depending on which students are filing the posts.

A video produced by WorkSafe BC (the Workers’ Compensation Board of British Columbia), which is dedicated to promoting workplace health and safety for the workers and employees of the province, provides a fascinating glimpse of how asbestos fibers affect the body. British Columbia is the westernmost Canadian province, and WorkSafe BC serves areas including Vancouver Island, Lower Mainland, BC Interior and BC North.

The short video mainly illustrates asbestosis, a severe scarring of the lungs caused by the inhalation of microscopic asbestos fibers. However, these fibers also can cause mesothelioma, a deadly cancer that most often affects the lining of the lungs, but which also can affect the stomach and/or the heart.

According to WorkSafe BC, since the year 2000, more workers in BC have died from asbestos disease than any other workplace injury.

Watch the video!

A new process that treats asbestos with heat and chemicals, called thermochemical conversion, could help ensure greater safety for asbestos removal projects, particularly those on a large scale. The process is being discussed in several Pennsylvania communities that are looking at ways to clean a more than 60-acre site contaminated with asbestos.

The new technology has been developed by ARI Technologies, Inc., a company dedicated to solving environmental waste management problems. The new thermochemical conversion technique has been certified by the EPA as an alternative to asbestos disposal. According to the company web site, the process can destroy PCBs, dixoin and immobilize metals.

According to a report in the the Times Herald, at a recent town meeting in Montgomery County, Penn., ARI’s president of technologies Dale Timmons said the process “involves using heat and chemicals on a rotary hearth to convert asbestos into volcanic materials.” He said the new substance does not release harmful fibers, which is the main danger of asbestos, so that it can be used in construction aggregate.

Usually, when asbestos is crushed or otherwise disturbed, it releases microscopic fibers that can be inhaled and that lodge themselves in the body. These fibers can cause asbestosis, a severe scarring of the lungs, or mesothelioma, a deadly cancer that affects the lining of the lungs, stomach or heart. Asbestos is the only known cause of mesothelioma.

The Times Herald says that while the EPA has signed off on thermochemical conversion for asbestos destruction, it is unclear at this time if the agency has given full approval for the process for asbestos removal projects.

ARI officials said the Pennsylvania project would require that between 150 and 300 tons of asbestos would need to be processed every day, 24 hours per day, to clean up the affected site, and that it would take nearly 10 years to process the estimated 3 million TONS of asbestos in the affected area, which covers three municipalities.

Asbestos handling would be conducted in an air-locked structure that would have to be built over the affected area, and the company would do constant air monitoring, the Times Herald reports. Cost would be about $135 per ton, with funds for the project likely coming from the federal government, according to the report.

Mayor Todd Strange today signed a proclamation declaring April 1-7 as Asbestos Awareness Week in Montgomery, Alabama. This proclamation supports National Asbestos Awareness Week, as established by Senate Resolution.

It is the purpose of Asbestos Awareness Week to raise public awareness about the prevalence of asbestos and asbestos-related diseases and the dangers of asbestos exposure. Asbestos can still be found in many products in the United States, which consumes nearly 7,000 metric tons of asbestos each year. Asbestos also is present in insulation produced prior to the 1950s and building products used well into the late 1970s, all of which can still be found in homes and public buildings.

Microscopic asbestos fibers can be inhaled, where they imbed themselves in the body and cause diseases including asbestosis, a chronic scarring of the lungs, and mesothelioma, a deadly cancer.

Asbestos Awareness Day, and later Asbestos Awareness Week, was established nationally by the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), which was founded by asbestos victims and their families in 2004. ADAO works to give asbestos victims and concerned citizens a voice as they fight for a total and complete ban on asbestos in the United States.

Law.com, an online publication of Incisive Media providing legal news and information, recently featured a story highlighting a unique program at the University of Montana, in which journalism students and law students are covering the W.R. Grace & Co. criminal trial currently underway in Missoula, Montana.

Students are blogging at an original site, dubbed The Grace Case Project, as well as posting updates on Twitter under the name UMGraceCase. Journalism students write as news reporters covering the story as the jury hears it, while law students, all in their second or third year, explain the “legal nuances and strategies of the trial,” Law.com reports. The blog features an icon of a quill pen when the post is from a journalism perspective, or the scales of justice when written by a law student.

The criminal trial against W.R. Grace & Co. began Feb. 19 at the Russell Smith federal courthouse. The company, along with former company officials, are charged with conspiracy, obstruction of justice and knowing endangerment of the Clean Air Act. The government says Grace knew its vermiculite mine in Libby, Montana, produced dangerous asbestos that put the health of its workers and the nearby townspeople at risk.

Hundreds have died in Libby as a result of exposure to asbestos, suffering a number of serious asbestos related diseases including asbestosis, a serious scarring of the lungs, and mesothelioma, a deadly cancer that affects the lining of the lungs and/or the abdomen.

The criminal trial against W.R. Grace & Co. is continuing this week at the Russell Smith federal courthouse in Missoula, Montana. The company, along with former company officials, are charged with conspiracy, obstruction of justice and knwoing endangerment of the Clean Air Act. The government says Grace knew its vermiculite mine in Libby, Montana, produced dangerous asbestos that put the health of its workers and the nearby townspeople at risk.

Hundreds have died in Libby as a result of exposure to asbestos, suffering a number of serious asbestos related diseases including asbestosis, a serious scarring of the lungs, and mesothelioma, a deadly cancer that affects the lining of the lungs and/or the abdomen. In 1999 an investigation revealed widespread asbestos contamination in Libby, and the Environmental Protection Agency began an effort to clean up the town, which continues today.

The story is receiving coverage from a number of media sources. The New Yorker called this the “most significant environmental criminal trial in American history.”

Early on, Judge Donald Molloy sparked anger in Libby residents when he ruled that victim witnesses would not be allowed to sit in on the trial. Regular myMeso reader and contributor Mike Crill, a longtime resident of Libby who has lost several family members to asbestos disease and suffers from asbestosis himself, was quoted in the Montana Kaimin when he and other Libby residents staged protests outside the courthouse.

The Kaimin quotes Crill as saying, “So much for freedom of speech, huh? Especially when you’re the victims and you’re being told that you’re not the victims.”

There is a great blog site by writer Tristan Scott, who also is doing a comprehensive series on the trial for The Missoulian, that is detailing the goings on at the Grace criminal trial. The blog, Cops and Courts, which bills itself as a “criminal justice blog” even has transcripts from court proceedings.

The Missoulian also has a special site set up with lots of archival information about W.R. Grace and Libby, Montana, as well as facts about asbestos, vermiculite mining and more. The site includes videos and slideshows as well.

Photo courtesy of Cops and Courts blog.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Feb. 5 that Anderson-Wilcox Corp. and Cutting Edge Concepts II LLC agreed to pay a fine of $300,000 for improper removal and disposal of asbestos at a New Haven, Conn., site. The fine is part of a settlement agreement between the companies, the EPA, and the U.S. Attorney’s office for the District of Connecticut.

According to the EPA news release, the companies were fined for improperly removing and disposing of asbestos from a historic property that was undergoing renovation and construction. Despite knowing that asbestos was prevalent in the structure, built in the 1800s, the EPA said the companies instructed subcontractors to remove asbestos-containing materials such as vinyl floor tile from the building and to throw it into standard open trash dumpsters.

By failing to use extreme caution in handling asbestos-containing materials, the company put its workers and the public at risk. Asbestos fibers are deadly when they are disturbed, as in demolition work, which releases them into the atmosphere. Inhaled asbestos fibers may cause a variety of asbestos-related diseases including asbestosis, a severe scarring of the lungs that impairs breathing, and mesothelioma, a deadly cancer.

The effects of asbestos exposure may not become apparent for years after exposure, when they manifest to cripple or kill.

Just last week, I was invited to participate in a good-intentioned project to help renovate a building for use by a charity group. The notice announced plans to tear down sheet rock, pull down ceilings and rip up flooring, and I shuddered at the thought of potential asbestos exposure.

It still boggles my mind that people are not aware of the potential hazards in tasks that seem harmless and even helpful.

If you are planning to undertake a building renovation project, please, please consider calling an asbestos abatement expert to have the structure inspected for possible asbestos hazards before you begin. Extreme caution should be used - and in many cases is required by law - when handling asbestos-containing materials.

I recently spoke with Mike Crill, a resident of Libby, Montana for more than 40 years. Mike has been diagnosed with asbestosis as a result of years of asbestos exposure at the W.R. Grace & Co. mine in Libby. He has watched many members of his family suffer from asbestosis and mesothelioma as a result of years of exposure in the workplace and from widespread asbestos contamination throughout the town.

These days, Mike is an outspoken activist who lobbies for more thorough cleanup of Libby and the surrounding countryside, or a quarantine of the town to protect future generations from exposure. I’ll have more about his mission in the next few weeks, but I wanted to introduce you to him through some of his writings.

Following is a poem that Mike created in memory of his father-in-law, Donald M. Kaeding, who was diagnosed with asbestosis in both lungs in 1999, and passed away on January 30, 2002.

Today I’m Told
By Mike Crill

Today I’m told I have asbestosis in both my lungs
and that I am being sent home to die because there is no cure and asbestosis
is my guarantee to death…

Today I am scared to what has become of me.
I no longer can run nor walk very far.
Life’s getting harder every day…

Today I’m saddened by those who love me as they try to hide
the truth and their pain, knowing I shall soon die and that
they will witness my every moment, until I die…

Today I feel so lost because my life depends on a tube that
pumps oxygen into my lungs to keep me alive. Knowing beyond
the end of that hose lies the end of my life…

Today I am mad because I can’t feed myself and someone has to
bathe me, dress me and change my soiled pants. It’s times like
these I wish I were dead…

Today I am in the hospital. I’ve become too much for my loved ones
to endure and I am crying inside because I know when I leave here
I’ll be in Heaven…

Today is the worst, no feelings in my hands and feet, both are
turning blue and non-stop morphine is all that’s left to ease
my pain…

Today I tried my hardest for my last breath, for my last
touch of a hand in mine, as the last words I heard and the last
words I spoke, “I love you…”

Today … I’m in Heaven. No pain for ever more. It’s really
beautiful here. And I shall await for you all to join me in
eternal life and love…God bless and Amen