Articles Posted in Asbestos Exposure

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Asbestos is a naturally-occurring mineral that has been used by humans for around 2,000 years.  However, it was between the 1850s and the 1980s that asbestos was used in virtually every aspect of residential, commercial and industrial construction, as well as in countless production operations. This primarily began during the Industrial Revolution and continued until the EPA attempted to ban the use asbestos.

asbestosThe reason we say attempted to ban the use of asbestos is because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations that outlawed asbestos use in the late 1970s was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court as being unconstitutional a few years after it was passed.  The reason being not that Congress couldn’t outlaw asbestos, but that EPA couldn’t do it through regulations without Congress first passing a law and the president signing that law. Continue reading

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In the past two decades, Boston, especially the once industrial waterfront area of the city, has seen remarkable changes.  The water quality has been improved dramatically, and the area is now filled with mixed-use residential and commercial properties and soon will be the home of General Electric Company’s corporate headquarters.

asbestosLike many companies, the headquarters building was once in New York City, and, based on new needs and tax incentives, the company moved its headquarters to Connecticut.  Now the company is planning to break ground on an impressive new complex in Boston.  However, according to a recent news article from the Boston Globe, the futuristic-looking structure that will include what looks like a giant sail can only be built after the existing structures are demolished. Continue reading

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According to a recent news story from Wicked Local Framingham, a major asbestos lawsuit has been settled for $385,000.  This lawsuit involved seven different parties, including the town of Framingham, Massachusetts, which is just outside of Boston.

moneyThis case primarily involved a waste disposal company located in Milford and its owner. The Massachusetts attorney general alleged that the owner of company took soil that contained asbestos from a construction job site located in Framingham and then illegally dumped the asbestos debris behind a residence in Milford, rather than properly disposing of the material.   Continue reading

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In Massachusetts, whenever a property owner suspects that he or she has asbestos issues and is going to do any renovation or demolition work, it is first necessary to have a certified inspector come and take samples. These samples are sent to a materials testing lab for microscopic analysis, even if there is little question that the material contaiasbestosns deadly asbestos fibers.

If the presence of asbestos is confirmed, the property owner must hire an asbestos abatement contractor to handle the removal after first submitting an abatement (removal) plan to the state department of health.  All personnel must be properly trained and must be wearing proper safety equipment.  This includes ventilators or respirators.  The purpose for all of this is to keep all workers and the community at large safe from the dangers of asbestos exposure.   Continue reading

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In a recent opinion from the California Court of Appeals – Fifth Appellate District, a civil jury had awarded the plaintiff’s family (surviving spouse and children) approximately $5.8 in connection with this his death from malignant mesothelioma. Malignant mesothelioma is very rare form of cancer almost always associated with exposure to deadly asbestos fibers.  However, it should be noted that, while it is considered rare as compared to other types of cancers, thousands of people suffer and die each year in the United States alone from malignant mesothelioma.

asbestosIn this case, when making their finding of liability and assigning damages, the jury found that defendant was exposed to the deadly asbestos fibers from brakes.  However, the defendant appealed, arguing that the jury’s special verdict form indicated serious inconsistencies, the trial court erred when not giving certain proposed jury instructions, and the course erred also in allowing allegedly prejudicial evidence to be admitted. Continue reading

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Every year in the U.S., approximately 15,000 Americans die as a result of asbestos-related diseases. This has been true since the 1930s, when it first became widely used in construction materials, ship building and automobile manufacturing. As it now stands 58 countries on this plant have banned the use of asbestos because they know – we all know – just how dangerous it is when the fibers are breathed in.cloverleaf

And yet, the U.S. is not among those nations because in 1991, a federal court overturned the ban on the substance imposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. However, it seems like we might finally change course on this when last yea, President Barack Obama signed an amendment to the Toxic Substances Control Act that would finally give the EPA the authority to prohibit the use of asbestos and ban asbestos imports. These plans were still moving ahead, despite Trump’s election.

But now, we have as the new head of the EPA a man named Scott Pruitt. There are a number of reasons for environmental advocates to be concerned about this pick, but one of those is the fact that Pruitt refused in a questionnaire from the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee to promise he would follow through with the asbestos ban.  Continue reading

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The governor of Ohio has just signed a measure into law that will grant firefighters in that state the right to file a workers’ compensation claim if they are diagnosed with cancer – including mesothelioma. The measure creates a rebutable presumption that when a fire department employee is diagnosed with cancer, it stemmed from an on-the-job activity. That means it will be up to the employer to refute that presumption with solid evidence if it wants to deny the claim. firefighter

The change in state law was introduced last year, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and will simplify the process for firefighters seeking to recover their pension and workers’ compensation benefits if they receive a cancer diagnosis.

The bill was by no means a shoe-in. The bill, S.B. 27, passed only after the fourth time it was introduced for consideration by state lawmakers. The bill is named after a fire department captain in Northeast Ohio who developed brain cancer in two years ago, and had to struggle to obtain workers’ compensation benefits.  Continue reading

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When asbestos was first installed in the countless buildings in the United States it was very dangerous to the workers who were at the mines unearthing the material.  It was also very dangerous to the workers who were employed at the factories processing the material into construction products. Then it was transported to millions of job sites across the country, where it was dangerous to the workers who were on the job.

warningAs if this was not bad enough, it was dangerous to the families of the workers. When a worker came home at the end of the day still covered in the deadly asbestos fibers, they posed a significant risk to the spouses and children of these workers who would hug them at the end of the day and lived in the same home. Continue reading

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For many, New York City’s Broadway is the gold standard of musicals and famous theaters. However, Boston has quite a few historic theaters located in the theater district and throughout the downtown area.  One of the most famous is the Colonial Theater, built 117 years ago.  At it turns out, many of the more famous shows, such as “Porgy and Bess” and “Oklahoma,” were first presented at this theater in Boston before debuting on Broadway.

asbestos dustThis famous theater was designed with many classic and beautiful features, but it was also built at a time when asbestos was used in virtually every aspect of the construction process.  Over the years, the theater began to fall apart and was literally crumbling into dust.  Since much of this dust contained deadly asbestos fibers, this became a major problem, and there was much talk about the theater closing down forever, according to a recent article from The New York Times. Continue reading

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While most people in the United States are now aware of the dangers of asbestos, many do not really know what it is or where it came from.  First of all, asbestos in a pure form is not a man- made substance.  It is actually considered a naturally occurring mineral that is comprised of six distinct silica elements.  There are various different types of asbestos, but their differences primarily involve the different minerals and other elements that are attached to the asbestos.

to sign a contractIt has been used for thousands of years, as it has a natural ability to resist heat, fire, caustic chemicals and electricity.  However, it wasn’t until the mid 1850s that asbestos-laden products were being produced in vast quantities.  With the need for all that raw asbestos came the need for major mining operations, and that need was filled by a firm called W.R. Grace and Co.  This was technically called a vermiculite mine, but, in reality, vermiculite was laden with asbestos at that time, even though the company said it was a safe alternative to asbestos when they knew it wasn’t. Continue reading

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