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.

Related articles

• Daily Show Exposes Asbestos Hypocrisy in Quebec Canada (futureenv.blogspot.com)
• Canada Blocks Asbestos's Placement on UN's List of Hazardous Substances (futureenv.blogspot.com)
• First Quebec, Now Zimbabwe (futureenv.blogspot.com)
• Quebec Government Decides to Back Loan to Restart Asbestos Mine (futureenv.blogspot.com)

Daily Show Exposes Asbestos Hypocrisy in Quebec Canada

Open-pit Mine Asbestos Quebec

As discussed in the May Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) newsletter, the Daily Show did a segment called "Ored to Death" by Herman Hamilton.  The segment is a tongue-in-cheek segment about the reopening of the mine in Asbestos, Quebec.  That is correct as we have discussed here previously the mine in Asbestos Canada that mines chryosilte asbestos is being reopened as a closed-pit mine versus the open-pit mine it used to be.  The asbestos they will be mining will be shipped to India where according to the Bernard Coulombe, executive director of the Jeffrey mine, the people of India are used to pollution and they know how to use it safely.  After seeing the video of the workers in India using the asbestos, we trying to determine if the bandanas they have in that country are HEPA-filtered.  If you love comedy about serious things you will love this video.

Related articles

• Quebec Government Decides to Back Loan to Restart Asbestos Mine (futureenv.blogspot.com)
• Does asbestos mean something different in Quebec than it does everywhere else? (scienceblogs.com)
• The City of Asbestos In Canada Talks About the Safety of the Mineral They Mine and Export - Daily Show (Video) (ducknetweb.blogspot.com)
• First Quebec, Now Zimbabwe (futureenv.blogspot.com)
• Quebec town of Asbestos mocked on U.S. comedy show (theprovince.com)
• Daily Show mocks Asbestos, Que. (cbc.ca)
• Asbestos industry strikes back at Jon Stewart (ctv.ca)

Quebec Government Decides to Back Loan to Restart Asbestos Mine

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 guarantee.  Economic 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.

Related articles

• Cancer society 'disappointed' with Quebec asbestos expansion (canada.com)
• Que. hands $7.5M to asbestos mine (cbc.ca)
• Asbestos Expert Demands Canada Retract "Safe Use" Statement (futureenv.blogspot.com)
• Asbestos mine gets $7.5 million from Quebec (canada.com)
• Air has high asbestos levels at Que. worksites: study (cbc.ca)
• In a Town Called Asbestos, a Plan to Restart the Industry That Made It Prosperous (nytimes.com)

Asbestos Victims in India on a Hunger Strike

Image via Wikipedia

Chest X-ray with Asbestosis.

A group of alleged asbestosis victims from Jhadole in Udaipur, Rajasthan are sitting on a hunger strike in front of the sub-divisional magistrate's (SDM) office in Udaipur, in India.  The victims are demanding that the reports of the medical tests done on them by the National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH), Ahmedabad, be made available to them.      NIOH had done a test on about 166 persons from Jhadole and Devigarh to ascertain whether they are affected with asbestosis.  These persons had been working in asbestos mines before the mining of asbestos was banned in India.  But while the doctors who had conducted the tests have published research papers (even included in NIOH newsletters) confirming asbestosis in at least 93 persons, none of them have been personally given the test report even after they had applied for it.  Even the names of those affected have not been made available.  Without this information, the miners are unable to claim any compensation or receive proper treatment.
     NIOH had conducted tests on 163 persons, including 56 females.  While pursuing the difficult task of getting one’s own medical reports 18 persons have already died and we don't know if they were from amongst those who were ascertained to be positive or are from the others.
     We are amazed with this situation because not only would this not happen in the United States, but the Doctors involved with the research would be held liable in the United States for not providing the information to the workers.  We guess the Doctor's code of do no harm does not apply to Doctors in India.  What do these researchers think they are doing the research for?  The researchers themselves should be ostracized.  This is the worst kind of researcher one who is interested in the research with no regard for the subjects of their research.

Related articles

• Que. asbestos exports should stop: activists (cbc.ca)
• Asbestosis - All Information (umm.edu)
• Scientists: Urgent ban on all asbestos needed (yubanet.com)
• Asbestos advocates plead for Quebec to push forward with mining loan (canada.com)
• Linda Reinstein, CEO and Co-Founder of Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), Issues Statement on "Drop the Rock", SB 624 (eon.businesswire.com)