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The White Lung Association is now selling CD's from the Global Asbestos Conference 2004 in Tokyo, Japan. See the WLA's GAC Conference page for more details.Asbestos Watch: White Lung Newsletter, November 28, 2006Help Celebrate the 27th Anniversary of the WHITE LUNG ASSOCIATION. December 4, 2006 at the St. Rita's Church School Cafeteria which is located on the corner of Dunman Way and Dunleer Ave. in Dundalk, MD. Meeting starting at 7 pm. Defend Ira Wainless, OSHA Scientist The White Lung Association is asking all members to help defend Ira Wainless, OSHA Scientist. Mr. Wainless is the scientist who wrote the OSHA advisory bulletin about asbestos in brakes. Asbestos is still a great hazard to brake mechanics, garage workers, auxiliary staff and the general public. Asbestos is still in many brakes, including several new models of General Motors autos and trucks. In addition, many truck and equipment brakes contain asbestos, as do imports from Canada, Mexico and China. Last week, David Ippoito, an official with OSHA's Directorate of Science, Technology and Medicine, told Wainless that he would be suspended without pay for 10 days unless he stopped warning the public about the dangers of asbestos. Investigations of this incident showed that Ippoito's former boss, John Henshaw, had written Ippoito demanding that the warnings about asbestos be weakened. Henshaw worked for consulting firms that received over 23 million dollars from General Motors and other automobile manufacturers. These companies face billions of dollars of compensation law suits from workers exposed to asbestos containing automobile products. They are fighting the warnings just as the asbestos industry once fought putting warnings on raw asbestos. Yet many new auto brakes still contain asbestos. We are asking you to clip off the bottom of this page and sent it to Senator Cardin. Senator Ben Cardin US Senate, Washington DC We know you are familiar with the tragedy of asbestos exposure. The White Lung Association is asking you to investigate and report to us why Ira Wainless, an OSHA scientist, is being punished for trying to warn brake mechanics, garage workers and the general public about the hazards of asbestos in brakes. Please see the Asbestos Watch for further details. I hope you will represent the working people on this issue. Sincerely, Name and Address Asbestos, the Silent Killer of Navy Veterans Liberty Ship written by WLA member William Burton, Sr. is now available for sale from the WLA national office, PO Box 1483, Baltimore, MD 21203 for a donation of $35.00. Over 500 pages of information on how the Veterans Affairs office has tried to deny benefits to asbestos diseased veterans is contained in this book. A must read if you are trying to get benefits from the VA. White Lung Association assists asbestos victims at the National Institute of Health. Fox 5 TV from Washington DC contacted the White Lung Association on behalf of the family of Nathaniel Allen. Mr. Allen died on April 2, 2005 from asbestosis. He worked as a maintenance mechanic for the National Institute of Health. NIH is now trying to deny his widow benefits resulting from his asbestos exposure while working there. WLA representative, James Fite, appeared on the News At Ten television news program on November 21, 2006. Mr. Fite showed evidence of asbestos at the NIH and evidence that this information had been known to NIH over twenty years ago. We hope that the National Institute of Health would live up to its name and mission and quit dodging its responsibility for its workers safety. Asbestos: The Human Cost of Corporate Greed by Laure Kazan, director of the International Association to Ban Asbestos, was published in Brussels in 2206. This 40 page pamphlet, including many photographs, is dedicated to "all those throughout the world who have suffered and died from asbestos-related diseases." This is an important summary of the need to ban asbestos throughout the world and highlights attempts by the asbestos industry and the Canadian government to continue the asbestos nightmare. It begins with a quote from Remi Posse, former member of Parliament from the Netherlands, who says, "Aside from gunpowder, asbestos is the most scandalous substance people have had to work with. The dark forces which profit from asbestos think little of using blackmail, deceit and unscrupulous practices to protect the bottom line; they willingly sacrifice workers' health for corporate profits." Copies can be obtained from the WLA (POB 1483, Balt. MD. 21203) for $15.00. For further information contact Vivienne Gadeyne at vgadeyne@europarl.eu.int to request copies. The Daily Hazard (Sept. 06) reports that the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) has reduced the current asbestos regulations in Great Britain over the objections of asbestos victims, environmentalists and trade unions. While the HSC has finally granted full compensation to mesothelioma victims it is heartbreaking that more mesothelioma victims will be created after the HSC has removed requirements for a license to work on textured coatings containing asbestos. Protestors outside HSC are pictured below. Joe Oliver Issues Call to White Lung Association. Joe Oliver, National Board Member and former President of the White Lung Association, has issued a call to all persons to help gather evidence on the conspiracy by asbestos trade organizations to suppress the knowledge about the hazards of asbestos exposure. If you know anything about this horrific history or have documents which can be used to further prove their heinous crimes, please contact Joe Oliver, WLA, POB 1483, Balt. MD 21203. Ignorant Health Officials responsible for 40,000 lung injuries and deaths after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center; September 11, 2001. After the twin towers had fallen, tens of thousands of rescue, demolition and construction workers were exposed to toxic dust. Few attempts were made to protect them by OSHA, EPA or New York City or State Health officials. Instead, workers were encouraged to sacrifice their lives when they could have been protected by respirators costing less than five hundred dollars per worker. Shortly after the tragedy health and union officials contacted the national office of the WLA for suggestions on how to protect workers. The national office recommended a minimum of Powered Air Purifying Respirators fitted with particulate and volatile organic cartridges. In addition we suggested building a massive decontamination center at two ends of the work site, closing the worksite to the public and wetting all areas. Air monitoring results showing the same readings from over several miles of testing equipment was challenged by the national office. We challenged the EPA's evaluation that the dust was not toxic and people could return to their contaminated apartments. While yelling "heroes" at the workers, the Bush and Guliannia administrations pushed thousands of police, fire fighters, sanitation workers, construction workers and laborers to work without any protection from toxins in the air and dust. Last month Mount Sinai Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine reported that more than half of the first 1,138 workers examined had serious respiratory problems. A NY Fire Department study found that firefighters had suffered a loss in lung capacity in the first year after the attack equal to what they might have lost over 12 years of normal duty. In addition, the Fire Department found that lung scarring rose five times the expected rate in the two years following 9/11. In April, 71,437 responders, residents and workers from downtown signed up for the World Trade Center Health Registry. More than half of them show lung disease. Detective James Zadroga, 34, and six others have had their deaths linked to the toxic dust. Government response has been led by Dr. John Howard, director of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health Administration. As of September 11, 2005, Dr. Howard has no budget for the trade center dust victims nor had he assigned a single staff to investigate the effects of the toxic dust on thousands of workers in New York. Recently courts ruled that dust victims can sue even if their workers compensation statue of limitations had expired. Normally a worker has two years to file a case after they have been injured. Many of the toxic dust victims do not get sick immediately and there fore need more time to file. Were the lessons of the ship yards and asbestos mills forgotten or perhaps ignored; or were tens of thousands of workers damaged, not directly by the terrorists, but by government decision makers. These leaders, including the New York City government, failed to respond to actions by the terrorists. This failure multiplied by many times the harm which was caused by the terrorists. Judge Fitzgerald approves Owens Corning plan to escape bankruptcy The federal bankruptcy judge in Pittsburgh, Judge Judith Fitzgerald, approved the Owens Corning plan to escape bankruptcy over the objections of asbestos victims. The plan shifts 7 billion dollars in asbestos liabilities into a trust that will be established for the plaintiffs. Owens Corning has promised to pay more than $5 billion to asbestos victims and 2.27 billion to holders of bank debt. Upon the establishment of the trust, the company will issue new shares based on its existing equity. Join the White Lung Association: Membership is $25.00, Life is $100.00 and special Paul Safchuck Memorial Membership is $500.00 List Name, Address and Telephone and e-mail and send to PO Box 1483, Balt. MD. 21203. Make all checks and money orders payable to White Lung Association. All membership dues are due in December.ÊPlease send yours in today. Truxon Sykes Memorial Educational Fund has received over $1,356.00 in contributions since June 21st of this year. Truxon Sykes, National Treasurer, passed from complications caused by asbestos and benzene exposure and kidney failure. Our special thanks goes out to Francis Sykes, beloved Sister-in-Law of Truxon, has organized many of the contributions. The White Lung Association is a nonprofit, educational charity dedicated to the education of the general public to the hazards of asbestos. Contributions are tax deductible. For further information contact Jim Fite, 410-243-LUNG (5864) Pass this newsletter around. Post it and reprint it with written permission of WLA, PO Box 1483, Baltimore, MDÊ21203. Meetings Schedule for 2007 Dundalk WLA Meetings, Mark your calendar! February 5th, March 5th, April 2nd, May 7th, June 4th, October 1st, November 5th, Dec. 3, 2007 |
Front Page, Week Of:4/16/05: Spectre to Introduce U.S. Asbestos Bill This Week 5/22/05: Individuals Injured by Asbestos Exposure Oppose Specter's Trust Fund Legislation |
Jim Fite's Alerts:Asbestos Victim's Superfund Compensation Program Asbestos Watch March 14, 2005 (Maryland chapter of the White Lung Association meetings) Directorate of Safety, Health, and Environment (open letter) |
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Joe Oliver's Alerts:Copies of Asbestos Watch are available from 2005. Each month's edition is over a hundred pages of information of interest to asbestos victims and the general public. The cost is $35.00 each and they can be ordered from: The White Lung Association All orders are prepaid with checks to the White Lung Association. Now available Feb, March and April. |
Leonard Makowski's Alerts:The White Lung Association stands in opposition to The Specter Bill (S.852) |
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WLA Alerts & NewsS.1115: Bill to amend the Toxic Substances Control Act to reduce the health risks posed by asbestos-containing products - This bill is supported by the WLA.Proceedings of the Asbestos Symposium for the Asian Countries - now available for purchase. |
News:Senator Specter Breaks Promise to Mesothelioma Patient and Research Community |
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World Trade Center Health: |
British Asbestos Newsletter:The latest issue is Spring 2005 |
News from India:The latest issue is November 30, 2006 |
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Features:December 17, 2000 is Asbestos Hazard Awareness Day |
Current Projects:
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Articles & Publications:Occupational Respiratory Diseases: Asbestos Associated Disease -- Reprinted from: Maxcy-Rosenau Public Health and Preventative Medicine 11th ed. (John M. Last, Ed.) 1980, Appleton-Century-Crofts |
Links:Pleural Mesothelioma Resources - additional links and advertisements about asbestos fibers causation, research, diagnosis and treatment options. Asbestos News - informational and law resource provided by legal firm (not affiliated with NYCOSH) |
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In Memoria: |
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