More Gulf Madness

Workers: Asbestos danger

By MIKE KELLER
Tue, May. 30, 2006
Sun Herald

The health of laborers and the public are at risk because companies are skirting asbestos-handling laws while regulators look the other way, say workers engaged in the Coast's cleanup.

Current employees of contractors spoke to the Sun Herald. They refused to use their names for fear of retaliation or dismissal.

All said they had been trained and certified in proper asbestos-abatement techniques with a combined total of more than 15 years in the business.

All worked for different companies operating at different points of structural inspection, demolition and debris removal.

The violations they reported have come together to create what they said is a tempest of long-term health danger, one that neither the public nor workers even know that they need to take shelter from.

Asbestos is a natural mineral fiber once used in building insulation and is still used in some manufactured products like brake pads. Its use was heavily restricted in 1981.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control lists the material as a source of serious diseases like asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma.

Danger lies in the clearing and hauling of asbestos-containing buildings. Workers descend on the area with heavy equipment like backhoes and debris trucks. They tear the buildings apart and load debris, creating clouds of pulverized construction materials they breathe in and that scatters with the wind throughout the neighborhood.

Public health, according to the employees, was further compromised by open-air debris trucks hauling and scattering along the roads potentially asbestos-containing refuse to landfills meant only for safe construction and demolition waste.

The contractors who came forward said workers are not wearing the proper equipment on structures that may contain asbestos. They said workers should be wearing face masks and full body suits.

Other workers said regular dust masks were not good enough for buildings that may contain asbestos and contractors should be handing out dual cartridge respirators to employees.

They said the disposable face masks commonly used on sites were as useful at blocking asbestos fibers as wearing no protection at all.

Victoria Cintra, a spokeswoman for Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance, said she also knows of widespread violations and the immigrant laborers her group represents are being put at unacceptably high risk.

"These violations are terrible," Cintra said. "People are going into houses and removing God knows what and they are doing it at best with Latex gloves. (The companies and regulators) have no regard for the future that the immigrant community will be going through in 15 or 20 years."

This is what happens when no one is in charge. It's not like the contractors don't know what the effects of asbestos is, because it's very well documented. And it's not like they don't know how to properly deal with it either. They aren't doing it because it costs money and it means caring about the people you hire instead of treating them like a resource.

All of those people who wanted deregulation in the 80's and 90's can be proud. They are going to have to pay more for health care costs and disability benefits because these workers won't be able to work once this stuff gets in their lungs. Still, even after hearing about this, many people in Mississippi will vote (R) because they are afraid of the wave of gay immigrant that is supposedly coming over the borders if Democrats take over in 2006.