Officials have issued a warning in Warrensburg, New York to stay clear of a work site next to Potter’s Diner, a local eatery. The property, which was recently the site of a local motel, may be contaminated with asbestos fibers making it a potentially serious health hazard. State officials claimed earlier this month that proper asbestos testing and asbestos abatement were not performed during the demolition, which may have resulted in dangerous contamination. Several violations have been issued to Richard Galusha, an owner of the property.

“How would anyone know that they’re supposed to have an asbestos survey done?” Richard said, claiming he was unaware of any asbestos testing requirements.

Galusha’s unawareness of the state’s requirements and his shock in receiving several citations for handling the project incorrectly highlight the states’s shortcomings in the ongoing efforts to decrease dangerous asbestos contamination. While strict state and federal laws exist necessitating asbestos testing and the hiring of properly licensed workers if asbestos abatement is required, knowledge of those laws and subsequently adherence to them is frighteningly slim.

As asbestos contamination proves to be a more and more serious problem, keeping property managers and owners aware of asbestos concerns and holding contractors fully accountable for proper asbestos testing should be the state’s responsibility. The light handed punishment of errant contractors and an inability to effectively spot-check the adherence of more than a tiny fraction of new renovation and demolition projects certainly contribute to the problem at large.

With diagnoses of mesothelioma, a fatal cancer caused by asbestos, still on the rise in North America and throughout the world, the cost of relaxed regulations and minimal awareness is certainly high. The Environmental Protection Agency has stated that there is no safe level of asbestos exposure, but with mesothelioma taking anywhere from a few years to several decades to fully develop the danger of asbestos often loses its sense of urgency.

For every demolition project like Galusha’s that comes under the helter-skelter scrutiny of the State Labor Department, several others are passed by. Meanwhile, Galusha will be held fully accountable for failing to procure an asbestos test and hiring contractors that weren’t properly licensed for asbestos abatement.

“We were trying to fix the town,” Galusha complained to local news agencies, “they inspect the site and they give you a permit. Nobody said anything about asbestos.”

Scott Tucker, the 43 year old owner of H & M Demolition Company, in Holland, Michigan, has been sentenced to thirteen months in prison and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine for failing to follow state and federal regulations concerning the safe handling of asbestos.

State and federal asbestos handling regulations were put in place to help control some of the dangerous elements of asbestos removal and disposal. Asbestos, known to cause a variety of serious illnesses including the terminal cancer mesothelioma, was used frequently throughout the twentieth century as an insulating and strengthening additive in cement, tiles, wall insulation and more. Today, a licensing process exists that requires contractors to be trained on safe handling procedures before tackling asbestos removal projects.

While Tucker’s company was licensed for asbestos abatement work in Michigan, he elected to ignore many of the regulations during the project indicated in the case in order to save time and money. The demolition project, whose task was to dismantle and level a closed lumber mill, included the disposal of several asbestos wall panels. Tucker instructed his crew to destroy and remove the panels with an excavator, ignoring the regulations which require such panels to be removed by hand and constantly wet to reduce dangerous airborne asbestos dust. Several tons of the asbestos containing debris was then brought to a nearby cement recycling facility, where it was crushed and treated without knowledge of its contamination.

The mismanaged asbestos removal not only put the employees of H & M Demolition at risk, but also threatened the well being of the cement recycling plant workers and increased the risk of asbestos exposure in residential neighborhoods nearby.

Asbestos regulations and restrictions set by the EPA and each individual state are often fairly rigorous, but the process in place for assuring the laws are followed isn’t always effective. While state and federal authorities require each new construction, renovation or demolition project that could potentially include asbestos handling to be brought to their attention, they often do not have the resources to conduct more than a thin, random spot check of the procedures.

Historically, firms and individuals who fail to adhere to asbestos safe handling guidelines are simply fined and required to re-apply for an asbestos abatement license. This time, however, the U.S. District Judge presiding over the case, Judge Robert Holmes Bell, was determined to send a message.

“I am convinced that the message has to be sent out to the larger community,” he said. “This is not to be tolerated. This is also way out of bounds.”

A Newport News, VA jury decided last month that two asbestos product suppliers, John Crane, Inc. and Garlock Sealing Technologies, were responsible for the illness and death of Robert Hardick. Robert served in the United States Navy between the 1950′s and the 1970′s, working both on seagoing ships and onshore in shipyard facilities. He was exposed to various forms of asbestos dust while going about his day to day duties, dust which later caused him to develop the malignant tumors that would take his life.

Asbestos has been linked to mesothelioma, the disease that killed Robert Hardick, as well as lung cancer, asbestosis, and other dangerous diseases. Mesothelioma, indicated by a cancer of the soft tissue encasing the lungs called the mesothelium, is an aggressive and invariably terminal disease. While it can take anywhere from years to decades to fully develop, once it’s diagnosable the prognosis is always grim. Most people diagnosed with mesothelioma aren’t expected to live longer than six month to a year.

These days there are strict rules and regulations regarding the safe handling and disposal of asbestos containing products, but that hasn’t always been the case. Throughout much of twentieth century asbestos contamination was a commonplace working condition, in spite of the fact that suppliers were aware of its dangerous properties. The substance’s importance to various industries, wide availability, ease of fabrication and profitability made many asbestos miners and asbestos product manufacturers slow or unwilling to take measures to protect workers and consumers.

Garlock Sealing Technologies agreed to settle out of court for an unknown amount, but John Crane, Inc. chose fight and is now responsible for one half of the total damages determined by the jury, about $2.99 million.

The court’s decision in favor of Diane Hardick, the late Robert Hardick’s widow, in spite of Robert’s exposure to the substance having occurred decades ago and even his death being more than a year in the past demonstrates a rising tendency of success in litigation against big asbestos companies.

Military personnel in the 82nd Airborne Division were unnerved recently by the development of sore throats and coughs following their exposure to various work-sites throughout the Haiti relief effort. Many feared that the coughs could be signs of asbestos contamination like that experienced in the relief efforts following the 9/11 attacks.

The affects of urban disasters are often a lot more complicated and far reaching than is immediately discernible. In the years after the 9/11 attacks hundreds of people made claims against New York City after developing cancers like mesothelioma from inhaling toxic dust in and around ground zero. The city failed to warn workers and others of the asbestos contained in the rubble, putting thousands of people in harm’s way when simple preventative measures could have made a life-saving difference. The claims regarding New York City’s negligence aren’t only valid, they’re swaying the sympathy of those involved in deciding the case. In fact, just recently a judge involved in the litigation against the city reportedly rejected a settlement offer of nearly $600 million, claiming that the figure was too low for the pain and suffering caused.

The United States Army was fast to act on the suspicions and anxieties of their soldiers working in Haiti. They quickly organized a laboratory analysis of the air, soil and water of various work sites around the relief effort.

While there was some concern that raw materials like tiles, cement, piping, siding and more could contain dangerous amounts of asbestos, results showed otherwise. As it turns out, airborne asbestos fibers pose virtually no threat in the areas of the Haiti relief effort that were tested.

“We collected air samples from 31 locations to see if our guys were potentially breathing anything bad,” the public health officer in charge of the testing operation said, “…everything we have been able to analyze so far has not presented a risk that is expected to be long-term, short-term or one we can’t mitigate.”

The results from the tests, while reassuring, aren’t incredibly surprising. Developing nations like Haiti don’t use asbestos products as fervently as Western nations once did. Much of that could be due to the Ally’s asbestos surplus that rose out of World War II as a result of wartime industry. Asbestos that was originally mined for use in the construction of tanks and battleships later found commercial outlets as the war industry dried up.

“In the U.S. we use a lot of fiberglass and asbestos for insulation,” the public health officer commented, “it appears that Haiti does not use asbestos as liberally as we do in the U.S.”

Regardless of why there’s so little asbestos contamination in Haiti, its absence is certainly good news for everyone involved in relief efforts there.

Marco Island residents want to know what the effects of a recently mishandled large scale asbestos abatement project are going to be on their community. So far, they haven’t received any direct answers. The United States Environmental Protection Agency has slapped the city as well as the contractor responsible for the project, a highway reconstruction project, with six separate asbestos safe handling regulation violations.

The EPA’s involvement came as a result of an anonymous tip-off, that as of yet has not been confirmed. Among the violations cited are the failure to remove asbestos materials before a demolition effort, the failure to properly dispose of contaminated materials, and a failure to have the work site thoroughly inspected for toxic materials. Astoundingly, the contractor responsible for the vast majority of the project is also being accused of failing to have any toxic substance professionals involved in the project at all, a violation that seems outright sloppy in today’s industrial atmosphere.

While the EPA’s claims thus far appear somewhat vague and haven’t been followed up decisively, asbestos contamination is something worth worrying about. Microscopic asbestos fibers have been conclusively linked with several respiratory conditions and several different forms of cancer, including a particularly aggressive cancer of the lining of the lungs known as mesothelioma.

The asbestos in question was present at the Marcos Island Collier Boulevard work site in the form of a strengthening additive to cement piping. Quality Enterprises, the primary contractor for the highway rebuilding contract, allegedly broke up asbestos containing cement pipe and left it exposed without any sort of testing beforehand or containment measure afterwards.

Large scale asbestos exposure issues are becoming more and more commonplace. The problem does’t lie with increasingly sloppy or sly contractors as much as with increased efforts from the EPA to collect information about asbestos related projects and crack down on violators. While state and federal regulations are fairly strict on paper, the EPA’s ability to follow up with real world audits is limited to its comparatively tiny staff allocated for such projects. At present, a virtually insignificant amount of potentially hazardous projects are actually audited for proper adherence to safety regulations.

While incidents such as the Marco Island Collier Boulevard project may seem sporadically uncovered and ill-handled, they may be the kind of stimulus the EPA needs to step up its game.