The David Suzuki Foundation, one of Canada’s leading environmental groups, has launched a campaign to have emails sent to Prime Minister Harper and Premier Charest to demand that they stop the financing of the Jeffrey mine.

Please forward this email as widely as you can and ask people to click and send a message. Let’s get 10,000 emails sent! It takes a couple of seconds to send the message and help stop the plan to finance the export of 5 million tonnes of asbestos to developing countries by Canada for the next quarter century. Continue reading →

On December 22, 2010, an Oakland jury returned a verdict of $3,970,000 against ArvinMeritor, Inc. (Rockwell International), Carlisle Corporation, and Pneumo Abex LLC for Gordon and Emily Bankhead. The jury found that all three defendants committed malice, fraud and/or oppression; trial will reconvene on January 5, 2011 for determination of punitive damages against ArvinMeritor, Carlisle, and Pneumo Abex. Defendant Kelsey-Hayes (Fruehauf Corporation) resolved the case during jury deliberations.

Read more about the Bankhead verdict here.

The Imperial Mill in Belmont, North Carolina, which has been in place since 1907, may be completely demolished within the next three months if the property is not redeveloped, the Gaston Gazette reports.

The complete demolition could be inevitable because the cost of maintaining the old cotton mill has reportedly become too much, according to Bill Carstarphen, president of Pharr Yarns, which owns the Imperial Mill.

“It’s a cost that the company can’t afford to keep on,” Carstarphen told the news provider.

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The International Mesothelioma Interest Group (IMIG), the world’s leading organization of doctors and scientists devoted to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of mesothelioma, has written an appeal to the government and people of Quebec to deny financing to the new Jeffrey asbestos mine. Citing the known dangers of asbestos use and the impact on developing economies, the board of IMIG writes to remind Quebec’s Minister of Economic Development to reconsider plans to finance the mine and to remember the position of both WHO and ILO on the phasing out of all chrysotile asbestos use by member states.

The letter is featured on IBAS’s website today, in recognition of the work IMIG has done in research on mesothelioma and in the global fight to ban the use of asbestos.

We have been reporting regularly on the international campaign to press the government of Quebec to reverse its decision on funding the re-establishment of the Jeffrey asbestos mines. In a report published in London on Thursday, December 9, one of the world’s leading medical journals has joined the chorus of outrage. The Lancet has added its voice to those calling on the Quebec government not to provide a long guarantee to a consortium of Indian investors seeking to revive Canada’s currently dying asbestos industry. It is of incredible importance that one of the world’s most respected medical voices is joining in support of protests going on in London, Quebec, and throughout Asia at this very time. Dr. Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet, was particularly critical of the decision to export Canadian chrysotile asbestos, an established cause of asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma, to developing countries that lack adequate infrastructure to protect its own citizens.

We add our voice to Dr. Horton’s and to the worldwide chorus, condemning this immoral export of asbestos-related death and disease to some of the most vulnerable people in the world.

A message from ABAN:

The former Asbestos workers in Udaipur are at Strike infront of the Sub Divisional Magistrat (SDM) office of Jhadol since yesterday. 23 workers examined by the NIOH were the strike yesterday and several more joined today.
They are demanding the names of 93 asbestosis victims diagnosed by NIOH.
164 asbestos workers were examined and 93 were suspected asbestosis, NIOH did not disclose the list of 93 workers. In the past few years since the examine was done 19 have died and few more are in very serious condition. I have doubts that NIOH does not have the list of 93 as we did not get any response after the first appeal under RTI and have filed the case with CIC. The people on strike have local support from voluntary organisations and politacal parties(opposition).

The linked article is an extremely powerful editorial by Prof. Gilles Paradis of McGill in the Canadian Journal of Public Health (just published in spite of the Sept/Oct date).

It is a call to arms to Quebec’s public health organisations to stop the Jeffrey mine and to demand a ban on the mining and export of chrysotile asbestos.

It virtually calls the export of asbestos to developing countries a racist policy.

“There is an ethical imperative for Public Health Organizations and professionals, and in particular for Quebec’s public health leaders, to become more vocal and active in the fight against chrysotile asbestos and to unite behind a common goal of banning production and export of all asbestos.”

Ban Chrysotile Asbestos

A Canadian federal government plan to transform a significant amount of asbestos mining waste in Quebec into plants and even biofuel crops could put nearby citizens at risk, according to internal documents.

According to the Canadian Press, Ottawa will attempt to use the waste materials in the center of Canada’s asbestos country to see if they could potentially yield plants or even biofuel crops someday.

Additionally, the Natural Resources Canada project in Thetford Mines in Quebec strives to determine whether or not it is worthwhile to extract certain minerals that are buried in the waste sites in the community.

But while these waste products could prove useful in developing plants and biofuels, digging up the materials, which include the dangerous fibers of asbestos, could pose a health risk to the nearby community, according to government documents.

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A Missouri city has reached a settlement with its fire chief who was accused of making firefighters remove asbestos-containing materials from a building.

Hannibal fire chief Tim Carter will remain in his position until the end of the year when he will retire with a full pension as part of the settlement, reports the Quincy Herald Whig.

It is alleged that Carter made firefighters remove material that contained asbestos from the former KHQA-TV studio on Palmyra Road in Hannibal, which had been donated to the fire department in August 2008.

In January 2009, Carter reportedly had the firefighters remove floor tiles and insulation from the building, according to an email the fire chief allegedly sent to then-fire board members James Behymer and Jason Janes on January 22, 2009. Carter later said that the only tiles that firefighters removed were loose, reports the news source.

Continue reading →

November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month.

Lung Cancer is the nation’s top cancer killer, striking nearly 200,000 Americans each year. Nearly 90% eventually succumb to the disease. When diagnosed early, the survival rate is 90%. A National Lung Screening Trial enrolling 53,000 current or former smokers recently found 20 percent fewer deaths from lung cancer among those screened with spiral CTs than among those given chest X-rays. The difference was considered statistically significant and the study was truncated.

Locally, Alta Bates Medical Center in Berkeley is doing a study in conjunction with New York’s Cornell University and is offering free low dose CT lung scans. Participants must be 50 or older. While prevention remains key, early diagnosis is vital for saving lives. If you live in Northern California and you are a smoker, an ex-smoker, or have been exposed to asbestos in the past, you may want to take advantage of this study. And for those exposed to asbestos there is an added potential benefit – a CT scan can also detect early signs of Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma, which can greatly improve the chances for a good response to treatment. Please call (510) 204-2792.