EPA Refused to Warn of Asbestos Dangers; Millions of Homeowners at Risk

[babylonsister]

EPA Refused to Warn of Asbestos Dangers; Millions of Homeowners at Risk

Congressional investigators will hammer the Environmental Protection Agency in a soon-to-be-released report for its flawed examination and cleanup of hundreds of factories that once processed asbestos-contaminated vermiculite into insulation.

But public health specialists say the investigation ignores an even greater failure: the EPA’s refusal to adequately warn millions of homeowners that they may be exposed to cancer-causing asbestos in that insulation.

The Government Accountability Office conducted the investigation for Congress. The report, expected to be made public later this month, will say that the EPA’s examination of sites in Spokane, Portland and 264 other communities that processed ore from Libby, Mont., used outdated criteria and underestimated or completely missed the dangers to people who worked there or lived nearby.

But the report will not address the EPA’s failure to warn homeowners about the risks they face from the insulation.

“It is unconscionable that EPA would not inform the American public of the danger they live with by having this potentially lethal material in their homes,” said Dr. Richard Lemen, former assistant U.S. Surgeon General, and acting director of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.

The hazard from exposure to the tremolite asbestos contaminating the vermiculite insulation is well known, Lemen said, “and for EPA to basically keep it a secret from homeowners for all these years is outrageous.”

more...

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/10/04/4384/

[lovuian]

1. our own government is hiding this from its people

and we pay their salaries and yet they protect the corporations

its sickening

[babylonsister]

2. Our government is knowingly poisoning people without their

knowledge. That's indeed disgusting.

[rodeodance]

3. drip drip

[The Backlash Cometh]

4. Wasn't asbestos put in the shingles of roofs?

Does anybody know the year that practice was stopped?

[Egalitarian]

5. I've got vermiculite in my attic.

Had it tested for asbestis before closing. Tests came back negative, but I'm mindful of the fact that the tested amount was one teaspoonful from approximately 200 cubic feet of vermiculite. I blew in cellulose insulation on top of the vermiculite and hopefully I won't ever need to disturb it. Undisturbed, in an attic, my understanding is that it's benign. I have witnessed though that around ceiling mounted light fixtures there can be leakage/exposure. Mental note to seal these areas.

FYI, I live in NW Montana about 90 miles from Libby. Probably tens of thousands of homes in my surrounding area have this stuff in attics. IMO, yes, EPA should become more proactive in educating homeowners. Examples like the one in the article(homeowner re-wires his home and crawls through the stuff for a week- exposing himself and his family) are not uncommon around here. On a positive note, most people in the professional trades seem to know of its hazards and respect it accordingly.

[mhatrw]

6. Plane Crashes, WR Grace, Deadly Asbestos, WTC Collapse & Wellstone

http://www.democraticunderground.com/cgi-bin/duforum/duboard.cgi?az=show_thread&om=5471&forum=DCForumID43