Asbestos deaths on the increase
According to West Somerset Coroner Michael Rose, Asbestos deaths have increased dramatically in Somerset in recent years. He said this at a hearing into the death of a former Royal Marine from Berrow. Speaking at the inquest of 72-year-old Victor Deane, he revealed that asbestos-disease mesothelioma was virtually unheard of in the area 20 years ago, but he now deals with around 14 cases a year where it has proved fatal. During the Taunton hearing, he disclosed that two Somerset sites are often the source of the poisoning and they are the former Royal Ordnance factory at Puriton, and Hinkley Point Power Station. And although Mr Rose heard that Mr Deane had once been stationed in an asbestos mining town while serving with the Marines in Cyprus in 1955-56, he said he doubted that that had been the cause of Mr Deane's death. Instead, it was suggested that a later career in oven manufacturing and an incident with a fire extinguisher may have been the cause. Mr Deane's best friend Giovanni Pooley recalled how he and Coast Road resident Mr Deane had lived in the Cyprus mining village of Troodos back in the 1950s. He said: "In the summer, we were covered in white powder blowing from the mine. But I am not aware of any other Marine contracting mesothelioma." Mr Pooley told that Mr Deane had used a fire extinguisher in 2004 to put out a small electrical fire in his home. He said that fire officers has told his friend the old type of extinguisher he had used was "effective, but lethal". "The fire brigade were livid when Mr Deane used the same extinguisher again on a second fire", said Mr Pooley, "from that moment on, he started coughing". Mr Deane was diagnosed with mesothelioma two years ago. In concluding, Mr Rose said the asbestos disease usually manifested itself within 30 years of exposure. For that reason, the coroner said he believed it was unlikely to have stemmed from Mr Deane's days as a Marine. The coroner himself was a former Royal Navy officer. Instead, Mr Deane's time making ovens may have been a factor, perhaps accelerated by the fire extinguisher incidents, he suggested. Mr Rose said: "In the Navy, it used to be engineers and stokers (who suffered from asbestos) but never anyone else, let alone Royal Marines." "Your normally enjoy very good health and then suddenly, when it's diagnosed, there's usually a period of about 12 months." "It may be that the fire extinguisher generated the disease. I cannot say when he contracted it." Mr Rose recorded a verdict that Mr Deane died of an industrial disease.
