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Showing posts with label Chrysotile. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chrysotile. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Summer & Fall 2011 Future Focus Now Available Online

Could This Asbestos Mine Reopen?
Just finished posting the Summer & Fall 2011 Future Focus Newsletter.  We're re-focusing the newsletter to keep it from seeming the same as all the marketing media we do.  We will only publish the newsletter twice per year and the feature article will be more about the future and big picture versus the daily happenings.  You can find our posts and discussions on the daily happenings here in this blog, or our posts on Facebook at Future Environment Designs Training Center, or posts on Linked-In at the New York State Asbestos Group, or you can follow our tweets on Twitter at Angelo Garcia, III.
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Tuesday, July 05, 2011

Canada Blocks Asbestos's Placement on UN's List of Hazardous Substances

Kathleen Ruff wrote an excellent piece in the June Newsletter of the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) regarding "Canada's Refused to Allow Asbestos to be Put on United Nations List of Hazardous Substances."  Ms. Ruff's article discusses what occurred at the UN Conference in Geneva June 20 to 24, where more than a hundred countries present were on the point of achieving consensus to add chrysotile asbestos to the Rotterdam Convention's list of hazardous substances.  Countries can still export substances on the list, but they must first obtain Prior Informed Consent.
The asbestos lobby has used its political power over the past several years to prevent chrysotile asbestos from being put on the list of hazardous substances, as they deny that chrysotile asbestos is hazardous.  So at the meeting in Geneva, Canada again intervened and would not agree to letting chrysotile asbestos be put on the Convention's list of hazardous substances.  Canada, single-handedly, destroyed consensus and prevented action on chrysotile asbestos.  According to Ms. Ruff, Canada refused to give any reason for its immoral and destructive conduct in sabotaging the Convention.  As a consequence, the asbestos industry can continue selling asbestos to developing countries, without giving any information of its hazards.
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Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Quebec Government Decides to Back Loan to Restart Asbestos Mine

Asbestos (chrysotile)Image via WikipediaQuebec government announced that it was providing conditional support of the reopening of the Jeffrey Mine Inc in the town of Asbestos through a $58 million loan guaranteeEconomic development minister Clément Gignac also suggested that chrysotile asbestos from that mine could help save lives in India.  Gignac said, the relaunched mine would create 425 full-time jobs in the region plus provide millions of dollars in taxes and royalties to Quebec which in turn will create a $7.5 million economic diversification fund for the region.
To justify the decision, Gignac told reporters that millions of people in India die of cholera every year because they lack access to potable water and proper sanitary infrastructure.  "Excuse me, but the fact is that chrysotile asbestos cement can be used to make many more kilometres of infrastructure because it is less expensive and is a durable material and we can improve the quality of life of citizens in India," he said.

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Friday, December 31, 2010

Paul Mancuso of Utica New York Ordered to Pay $17,972 to EPA

HVAC ducts insulated with chrysotile asbestos.
We have discussed this case in our asbestos refresher classes and slowly but surely it is getting resolved.  Paul Mancuso of Utica, New York was ordered to pay back $17,972.68 it cost the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to clean up toxic piles of asbestos that were illegally dumped in a rural Herkimer County field.  On Tuesday, December 28, the prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Benedict, said it is satisfying to know that Paul Mancuso will have to pay some financial penalty for what he has done.  “We’re pleased that the judge has found Paul Mancuso responsible for repaying the taxpayers of the United States for money expended to clean up the asbestos that was illegally dumped as a result of the Mancusos’ criminal activities,” Benedict said.


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That Time of Year! Conferences, Posting Requirements, and OSHA Violations Increased!

It's that time of year again. We're between conferences.  February 15-16, 2024 was the Professional Abatement Contractors of New Yor...