Environmentalists Say 10,000 Die Annually from Asb
San Jose, CA, Mar. 5--Nearly 10,000 people in the United States die each year from asbestos-related health problems, an environmental group said in a new study Thursday, and 100,000 others live within half a mile of high-risk factories that once processed it, according to the San Jose Mercury News.
Among those factories is a former East Bay insulation plant in Newark. The facility, which had been known as California Zonolite, at 6851 Smith Ave., was owned by W.R. Grace from the 1960s until it closed in 1993. The company shipped vermiculite, a mineral, from its now-closed mine in Libby, Mont., to Newark, where it was heated and turned into attic insulation.
Recent studies have shown that former workers at the Montana mine have a death rate 60 times the national average from asbestosis, a lung disease caused by inhaling tiny asbestos fibers.
Richard Wiles, chief author of Thursday's study from the Environmental Working Group, said some of the 100,000 people who live near 28 plants that processed much of the Libby asbestos in the United States, mostly in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, could face health problems.
"Those 100,000 people are at risk," he said. "Asbestos is light and friable and floats around the air." 'Friable' means that the asbestos easily crumbles into powder.
The Newark site has received a clean bill of health from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, however. Located in an industrial area, the property is now home to Steeler, which makes metal framing materials for construction. Steeler, which does not use asbestos or vermiculite, bought the land after Grace closed its plant in 1993.
In 2001, the EPA oversaw testing at the Newark site of soil, air and building surfaces.
It ordered several areas of soil where vermiculite was loaded from trains to be dug out and replaced with clean soil, said Bob Mandel, the EPA's coordinator for the site. It also ordered Steeler contractors to wipe and vacuum every surface on the property in case dust was left from years before, he said. Testing afterward showed no asbestos in the soil or air.
"It's something that people don't have to worry about anymore. It is cleaned up, and we confirmed that," said Mandel.
Another federal agency, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, is conducting public health studies of the 28 high-priority asbestos sites. Earlier this year, it released results from the first five. Results from Newark and the other 22 are due this year.
"For the five we have completed, we did not find any evidence of a risk of asbestos-related disease for the residents in the surrounding communities," said Dr. Vikas Kapil, senior medical officer at the agency. "We recommend that former workers at those sites and their families seek further consultation with their doctors."
Kapil said the group's death estimate seems accurate.
The Environmental Working Group released the study -- which was funded in part by the National Association of Trial Lawyers -- as part of a campaign to influence pending legislation in Congress. A bill by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, would establish a $108 billion fund from insurers and industrial companies for asbestos victims, while capping remaining liability.
Most asbestos products in America have been phased out. People who own homes built before 1980, when asbestos insulation was common, are advised not to disrupt it without hiring a licensed contractor.
