On January 6, 2011 an Alameda County jury returned a $13.5 million dollar second phase verdict assessing punitive damages against Phuemo Abex LLC (9 million dollars) and Arvin Meritor/Rockwell (4.5 million dollars). In the first phase of the trial, completed on December 22, the jury awarded 3.9 million dollars in compensatory damages, and found that the defendants, Pneumo Abex, Arvin Meritor, and co-defendant Carlisle Corporation (which resolved before Phase 2), acted with malice, fraud and oppression, warranting the second phase determination.

Read more about the Bankhead Verdict.

Ex-staffers of Hindustan Composites who were fighting for claims since 2004 will receive over Rs 1 lakh each

Publication: Mumbai Mirror ; Date: Dec 24, 2010; Section: City; Page: 6; Lata.Mishra @timesgroup.com

In a payout that could set a precedent, a defunct UK company that made asbestos sheets at its Ghatkopar plant has compensated 95 former workers – and in two cases their spouses – accepting their claims that the nature of their work was responsible for them suffering from asbestosis, a dangerous lung infection that could lead to cancer (see box).

These 97 people have raised hopes of millions of Indian workers who are fighting for healthrelated compensation from foreign companies. The workers, formerly employed with Hindustan Composites Ltd, have won compensation of over Rs 3 crore, and each of them will receive between Rs 1.5 lakh and Rs 8 lakh, depending on the severity of the disease. Continue reading →

Turkey’s Environment Management Directorate General announced regulation banning the use of asbestos goes into effect this Friday, in full compliance with EU regulations.

As more nations around the world join in the effort to ban the use of asbestos-related products, the fight to protect workers and their families from diseases and illness caused by asbestos exposure is furthered.

Read the full story on Turkey’s asbestos ban here.

The David Suzuki Foundation, one of Canada’s leading environmental groups, has launched a campaign to have emails sent to Prime Minister Harper and Premier Charest to demand that they stop the financing of the Jeffrey mine.

Please forward this email as widely as you can and ask people to click and send a message. Let’s get 10,000 emails sent! It takes a couple of seconds to send the message and help stop the plan to finance the export of 5 million tonnes of asbestos to developing countries by Canada for the next quarter century. Continue reading →

On December 22, 2010, an Oakland jury returned a verdict of $3,970,000 against ArvinMeritor, Inc. (Rockwell International), Carlisle Corporation, and Pneumo Abex LLC for Gordon and Emily Bankhead. The jury found that all three defendants committed malice, fraud and/or oppression; trial will reconvene on January 5, 2011 for determination of punitive damages against ArvinMeritor, Carlisle, and Pneumo Abex. Defendant Kelsey-Hayes (Fruehauf Corporation) resolved the case during jury deliberations.

Read more about the Bankhead verdict here.

The Imperial Mill in Belmont, North Carolina, which has been in place since 1907, may be completely demolished within the next three months if the property is not redeveloped, the Gaston Gazette reports.

The complete demolition could be inevitable because the cost of maintaining the old cotton mill has reportedly become too much, according to Bill Carstarphen, president of Pharr Yarns, which owns the Imperial Mill.

“It’s a cost that the company can’t afford to keep on,” Carstarphen told the news provider.

Continue reading →

The International Mesothelioma Interest Group (IMIG), the world’s leading organization of doctors and scientists devoted to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of mesothelioma, has written an appeal to the government and people of Quebec to deny financing to the new Jeffrey asbestos mine. Citing the known dangers of asbestos use and the impact on developing economies, the board of IMIG writes to remind Quebec’s Minister of Economic Development to reconsider plans to finance the mine and to remember the position of both WHO and ILO on the phasing out of all chrysotile asbestos use by member states.

The letter is featured on IBAS’s website today, in recognition of the work IMIG has done in research on mesothelioma and in the global fight to ban the use of asbestos.

We have been reporting regularly on the international campaign to press the government of Quebec to reverse its decision on funding the re-establishment of the Jeffrey asbestos mines. In a report published in London on Thursday, December 9, one of the world’s leading medical journals has joined the chorus of outrage. The Lancet has added its voice to those calling on the Quebec government not to provide a long guarantee to a consortium of Indian investors seeking to revive Canada’s currently dying asbestos industry. It is of incredible importance that one of the world’s most respected medical voices is joining in support of protests going on in London, Quebec, and throughout Asia at this very time. Dr. Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet, was particularly critical of the decision to export Canadian chrysotile asbestos, an established cause of asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma, to developing countries that lack adequate infrastructure to protect its own citizens.

We add our voice to Dr. Horton’s and to the worldwide chorus, condemning this immoral export of asbestos-related death and disease to some of the most vulnerable people in the world.

A message from ABAN:

The former Asbestos workers in Udaipur are at Strike infront of the Sub Divisional Magistrat (SDM) office of Jhadol since yesterday. 23 workers examined by the NIOH were the strike yesterday and several more joined today.
They are demanding the names of 93 asbestosis victims diagnosed by NIOH.
164 asbestos workers were examined and 93 were suspected asbestosis, NIOH did not disclose the list of 93 workers. In the past few years since the examine was done 19 have died and few more are in very serious condition. I have doubts that NIOH does not have the list of 93 as we did not get any response after the first appeal under RTI and have filed the case with CIC. The people on strike have local support from voluntary organisations and politacal parties(opposition).

The linked article is an extremely powerful editorial by Prof. Gilles Paradis of McGill in the Canadian Journal of Public Health (just published in spite of the Sept/Oct date).

It is a call to arms to Quebec’s public health organisations to stop the Jeffrey mine and to demand a ban on the mining and export of chrysotile asbestos.

It virtually calls the export of asbestos to developing countries a racist policy.

“There is an ethical imperative for Public Health Organizations and professionals, and in particular for Quebec’s public health leaders, to become more vocal and active in the fight against chrysotile asbestos and to unite behind a common goal of banning production and export of all asbestos.”

Ban Chrysotile Asbestos