Streator, IL – Asbestos will be eliminated in June from Oakland Park and Sherman Schools in Streator.

A bid of $47,000 from Midway Contracting Group, LLC of Tinley Park has been approved by the Streator Elementary District 44 board on Tuesday. The expense for the project will be paid by the District. The district will pay for it out of health life-safety funds.

Asbestos abatement will take place in the boiler room at Oakland Park School. The cancer-causing material will be removed from the floor tiles, mastic, gym and cafeteria at Sherman School.

The project will help prevent any possibility of asbestos disruptions in the two locations in the future.

The project will be finished by July. Contractors will reinstall Sherman floor tile and lining/logo, and reinsulate the Oakland Park boiler room once the asbestos removal project is completed.

A Mississippi judge has tossed out a $322 million jury verdict in an asbestos-related case against Dow Chemical Company’s Union Carbide unit and Chevron Phillips Chemical Company, a Bloomberg report says.

The companies had requested the state Supreme Court to overturn the verdict. They claimed Smith County Circuit Judge Eddie Bowen had a conflict of interest as his parents had legal claims relating to asbestos, including one against Union Carbide.

The verdict was awarded to Thomas Brown Jr., a Mississippi man who sued the companies for allegedly exposing him to asbestos dust and thus causing him to develop asbestosis. According to Bloomberg, it was the largest ever verdict won by a single plaintiff in an asbestos case.

State’s high court removed Bowen from the case last year. William F. Coleman, the judge came in place of Bowen, said on December 22 that the companies’ request to remove Bowen and toss out the verdict must be granted.

Scot Wheeler, the Spokesman for Union Carbide was not available to comment.

A Burnley Road, Rawtenstall, man died from mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos-containing materials all through his career in slipper and shoe making, an inquest heard.

James Whittaker died on June 23, 2010 after a short sickness when he was 86 years old.

Coroner Richard Taylor read a statement prepared by Whittaker before his death. The statement says Whittaker was regularly exposed to asbestos, which lagged many of his ship’s pipes, when he was serving the Royal Navy as a teenager.

Whittaker stated asbestos was present in his sleeping quarters too.

According to Whittaker’s statement, he worked at Newchurch Boot Company before and after his naval service. There he was exposed to an asbestos-like material known as salbestos, according to the statement. Whittaker also stated that he was never asked to use a mask during his job.

A pathologist reported that Whittaker’s death was because of mesothelioma, a terminal cancer caused by frequent exposure to asbestos.

Richard Taylor recorded a verdict of death by an industrial disease due to exposure to asbestos during employment.

PIKETON – An asbestos removal project is over in a dry air plant in the X-333 Process Building of the former gaseous diffusion plant at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site.

DOE Site Director Vince Adams said asbestos abatement was part of decontamination and decommissioning process.

Adams said first priority was given to the health and safety of workers, public as well as the environment during the cleanup process.

“Safe asbestos abatement like this in the X-333 will be a vital part of the activities in the future,” Adams said.

Though the use of asbestos has been regulated and restricted once its hazards became known, it was a very popular construction and industrial material before the 1980s. So, asbestos is still present in many old buildings. Asbestos removal is must before the demolition of any such buildings prior to any demolition or renovation process. Regular exposure to asbestos can cause severe respiratory problems and terminal health issues including cancer.

A petition has been filed by a Nederland resident to perpetuate the testimony of Barney Tarver, a former Union Oil employee suffering from malignant mesothelioma, a terminal asbestos-related cancer.

Mr. William Tarver filed the petition on January 9 in Jefferson County District Court. Union Oil and Chevron are the likely defendants in the pending lawsuit.

According to court papers, Barney Tarver’s mesothelioma is likely to progress and will finally prove fatal.

The petition says Barney Tarver developed the fatal cancer as he was regularly exposed to asbestos products during his service with Union Oil. The petition states that the companies have been notified regarding initializing a wrongful death lawsuit.

Judge Donald Floyd, 172nd District Court, will preside over the case.

Burnaby city hall is investigating the asbestos material, which was found dumped on the street in a North Burnaby neighborhood on Monday. The bags containing the dangerous material were lying on Blaine Drive and nearby alleyways.

According to Lambert Chu with the city’s engineering department, he received a number of calls from the public regarding the garbage dumped in the 1100-block of Blaine Drive.

The department first considered it as a simple case of abandoned garbage and arranged crews to remove them. But some callers mentioned asbestos. The department crews discovered 15-20 bags dumped in the lanes.

Although it was not damn sure that the bags contained asbestos, some of them had been labeled as containing the deadly substance.

According to Chu, the illegal dumping might have occurred overnight so that the culprits won’t be noticed dropping the bags in the street.

A Joliet mall owner has been fined $110,000 after violating the federal regulations regarding asbestos removal.

Schaumburg-based RMS Properties, Inc., which owns Marycrest Shopping Center, 2112 Jefferson St., has agreed to pay the fines as part of a consent order agreement.

Illinois Attorney General’s Office had filed a complaint against RMS Properties on 3rd November in Public Health in Will County Circuit Court. The complaint, which was filed on behalf of the Illinois Department of Public Health, accused the shopping center owner of violating asbestos regulations during renovation of a 60-year-old building.

According to the complaint, unlicensed workers were used to remove asbestos floor tiles. Additionally, the workers improperly discarded the asbestos tiles into garbage bins. The project was halted twice in 2008 and 2009 due to asbestos concerns.

Asbestos is a highly regulated substance. Only licensed professionals are supposed to deal with the substance. If asbestos is disturbed or broken, its tiny fibers become airborne. Inhalation of these fibers can result in fatal diseases including cancer.

63 Companies Named in Asbestos Case

CHARLESTON – A Pittsburgh, PA, woman is suing 63 companies for allegedly causing her mother to develop asbestos-related lung cancer that resulted in her death.

According to a lawsuit filed by Mary Ann Fischer, her mother Kathleen A. Buchner died after developing asbestosis and mesothelioma. The suit was filed on December 7 in Kanawha Circuit Court.

Buchner was exposed to asbestos through her father, who was working at Sunoco Gas Station and as a carpenter in West Virginia and elsewhere, according to the complaint.

The plaintiff says Buchner and Buchner’s father were exposed to asbestos as well as asbestos-containing products at the job sites of Buchner’s father.

84 Lumber Company, Beazer East, Inc., Borg-Warner Corporation, Burnham Holdings, Inc., CBS Corporation, Certainteed Corporation, Cleaver-Brooks, Inc., Columbia Paint Corp., Crane Company, Inc., Dana Corporation, Eaton Corporation, ECR International, Inc., Elof Hansson, Inc., F.B. Wright Company, Flsmidth Dorr-Oliver Eimco, Inc., Ford Motor Company, the Gage Company, Gardner Denver, Inc., General Refractories Company, Genuine Parts Company, George V. Hamilton, Inc., Goulds Pumps, Inc., Grinnell, LLC, Hinkel-Hoffmann Supply Company, Honeywell International, Inc., IU North America, Inc., Industrial Holdings Corporation, Ingersoll-Rand Company, IT Corporation, Jones & Brown, Inc., Joy Technologies, Inc., Kelly Moore Paint Company, Kentile Floors, Inc., Mack Trucks, Inc., Maremont Exhaust Products, Inc., Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, Mondae’s Auto Supply, Nagle Pumps, Inc., Owens-Illinois, Inc., Parker-Hannifin Corp., Parker-Hannifin Corporation, Peerless Industries, Inc., Plotkin Brothers Supply, LLP, Pneumo Abex Corporation, Powermaster Pacific Products, RCH NewCo II, LLC, Rennekamp Lumber & Supply Company, Riley Power, Inc., Rockwell Automation, Inc., Saint-Gobain Abrasives, Inc., Schneider Electric USA, Inc., Spirax Sarco, Inc., Trane U.S., Inc., Tri City Aluminum Company, Tri City China, Inc., Tri-Rivers Building Products Company, Unifrax Corporation, Union Carbide Corporation, Viacom Inc., Vimasco Corporation, Weil-McLain Company, Yarway Corporation, and Zurn Industries, LLC. are the companies named as defendants in the case.

Mary Ann Fischer is seeking compensatory and punitive damages. The case will be presided over by a visiting judge.

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has issued a penalty of $18,187.50 against 320 Elm LLC of Southbridge for failing to follow state regulations regarding asbestos.

The violations occured during the removal of asbestos-containing transite siding shingles from a company-owned residential property located at 255-257 Marcy Street in Southbridge.

An inspection conducted by MassDEP in November 2009 discovered that the company eliminated the asbestos-containing siding itself, without notifying the agency. Per regulations, the department should be notified prior to any work involving dealing with asbestos.

The DEP inspectors also found that Elm LLC failed to follow necessary procedures for handling, packaging and disposal of asbestos. Several pieces of broken asbestos transite shingles were found dry, uncontained on the ground and in a roll-off dumpster at the property.

According to the present settlement, Elm LLC must pay $4,000. The remaining penalty of $14,187 has been suspended by the MassDEP on condition that the company will abide by the regulations in the future.

The demolition of two empty buildings on the land close to Park View Health Center has been halted after the discovery of asbestos. The expense of the project will raise more or less 50 percent as asbestos has to be removed first for the demolition process to resume. Asbestos removal is a very expensive process and requires the service of licensed professionals.

Mike Elder, county’s director of facilities and property management, said the crews razing the buildings found more asbestos than located in a scan in the beginning. The properties are situated on the lot at 725 Butler Ave.

A first round asbestos survey showed 11,000 square feet of asbestos. But, Elder says it is not sure if asbestos is present at somewhere else in the buildings as the buildings have been full of surprises. Asbestos was discovered in floor adhesives and pipes in the walls during the demolition process.

Though the dangers of asbestos are fully known now, the material is still present in many buildings constructed prior to the 1980s. As asbestos exposure is linked to terminal diseases such as lung cancer and mesothelioma, it is a highly regulated substance. If asbestos is present in a building to be demolished, the material should be removed first before tearing down the building.