Protecting What's Right

Imports of asbestos into the United States have increased more than 34 percent since 2010, despite the fact that the mineral is a known carcinogen, according to numbers compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey.

Based on data collected from January 2011 to July 2011, the United States was estimated to collect more than 1,100 tons of asbestos during the calendar year. Data for the entire year has not yet been compiled by the USGS. The 1,100 tons is an increase of 869 tons imported into the United States in 2009 and 820 tons imported in 2010.

Asbestos is a known carcinogen, but United States manufacturers continue to use the deadly mineral in more than 3,000 products, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Manufacturers use asbestos in commercial products including paper, brake linings, floor tiles, insulation and roofing materials.

Asbestos exposure is an occupational and environmental health hazard of epidemic proportions. More than 10,000 people die each year from asbestos-related diseases including mesothelioma, asbestosis and lung cancer. An estimated 3,000 people are diagnosed annually with mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma develops most often in the membrane surrounding the lungs called the pleura. It can also develop around the abdomen and the heart.

Asbestos has not been mined in the United States since 2002. But foreign countries satiate demand by America’s industrial giants. Most asbestos was shipped from the Canadian mines. Other sources include Brazil and Zimbabwe.

Although the report states that the use of asbestos in 2011 and in the preceding 5 years is the lowest it has been since 1909, it is still way too much. The USGS report also estimates that the United States’ future asbestos consumption will hover around the 1,000-ton level.

According to the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, a California-based nonprofit, the asbestos industry has argued that imports of asbestos are decreasing. The USGS figures contradict that claim.

ADAO president and founder, Linda Reinstein, calls on Congress and President Barack Obama to prohibit the importation of raw asbestos and asbestos-containing products to protect public health. Reinstein, who lost her husband to mesothelioma, said we are unable to bring back the countless victims to asbestos exposure, but we can prevent exposure by banning asbestos for good.

Baron & Budd, a law firm founded to protect the rights of asbestos exposure victims, supports Reinstein and the ADAO. Our politicians should not wait any longer to ban asbestos. It’s harmed too many people and promises to harm many more if we allow asbestos to cross our borders.

Four years ago this month we stood on the streets of Fort Worth, Texas with a disparate group of men and women held together by one thing: the knowledge that asbestos kills.

"We" were attorneys and concerned staffers from Baron & Budd, construction workers, nearby residents and a representative from a union that had been hit hard by asbestos. Standing next to an apartment complex as it was being readied for demolition, we held signs, spoke to a few reporters and handed out flyers to neighbors.

Read the rest of this entry »

On Veterans’ Day, Americans everywhere will pause to reflect on the many men and women who served in our military. Amidst white-capped tombstones, there will be ceremonies marking the nearly 42 million people who lost their lives during one of America’s wars. There will also be ceremonies for our living veterans – almost 22 million strong.

We bow our heads to every man and woman, living or killed in battle, who ever faced down the enemy to protect the freedom we enjoy today.

Read the rest of this entry »

For decades, asbestos was considered a superior ingredient in construction materials because if its invulnerability: asbestos is uber strong (as defined by tensile strength) and incredibly resistant to fire, heat, chemical and electrical damage.

But the strength that gives asbestos its permanence is also the strength that makes it a veritable weapon of mass destruction in our own homes and workplaces.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 125 million people in the world are exposed to asbestos at their workplaces and more than 107 million people exposed at their job sites die each year from the three deadly asbestos-related diseases: mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hardly a day goes by that someone talking to our law firm about mesothelioma doesn’t say, “well at least asbestos is banned: so no more people will have to suffer from this horrible cancer.” But they are wrong – at least in the United States.

The fact is that asbestos is being imported into the United States even as we speak – with most of that, a whopping ninety percent, coming through our northern borders from Canada’s massive chrysotile mines. Sure, the volume of imported asbestos has decreased from a peak of 719,000 tons in 1973 to a mere 820 tons in 2010, but since one inhaled fiber can cause debilitation and death… why on earth is the United States allowing ANY importation and use of asbestos?

Read the rest of this entry »

Given the incessant TV buzz created by law firms hoping to represent people with mesothelioma, a fatal cancer caused only by exposure to asbestos, you might assume that these types of lawsuits have been "business as usual" for decades. But with tort reform seemingly always an issue for politicians trying to show their allegiance to corporate America, that assumption is just plain wrong. In fact, in 1999 individual lawsuits for mesothelioma victims almost became a thing of the past.

The case was Ortiz v. Fibreboard Corp., 526 U.S. 815, 119 S. Ct. 2295 (1999)
and it was one of the last decisions handed down by the United States Supreme Court that year. This seven to two decision was given after months of fierce debate. The issue: should all future claims by people who developed illnesses related to asbestos exposure be handled as a class action

Read the rest of this entry »

As if people suffering from mesothelioma don’t have enough to worry about … victims who have been exposed to asbestos through work on railroad cars now have to worry about getting their day in court.

Yes, sadly, contracting a fatal cancer that can be directly linked to asbestos in rail car work will not be enough to bring you justice unless the United States Supreme Court sees fit to side

Read the rest of this entry »

You’d think that a town that was devastated by asbestos had suffered enough. But news reports of EPA knowledge of, and unresponsiveness to, reports of asbestos contamination on widely distributed wood chips has put Libby back in the news, and in harm’s way, once again.

Asbestos from a W.R. Grace mine in Libby has caused the death of over 400 people with more to come, as the latency period for the deadly microscopic fibers to wreak havoc with the lungs can be more than 30 years.

Read the rest of this entry »

This week, a United Nations summit met in Switzerland. Interestingly, asbestos was a hot button issue at the summit, as the UN was considering listing chrysotile asbestos in the Rotterdam Convention. Putting asbestos on the list would put stronger restrictions on the material and would force exporters of asbestos(ex: Canada) to warn countries receiving the asbestos about any health hazards.

Read the rest of this entry »