Mesothelioma Lawyers Blog

A lot of news coverage on the dangers of asbestos deals with the improper disposal of asbestos by building owners. In order to legally remove asbestos, or renovate or demolish a structure that could likely contain asbestos, the owner must hire a certified professional asbestos removal company to perform an inspection. If asbestos is confirmed, the owner must submit a removal plan and obtain necessary permits before any work begins.

Often times, we see property owners having their workers simply dispose of the asbestos material as if it was any other waste or, in worst case scenarios, illegally dump the asbestos debris on public land. In these cases, workers are rarely provided with proper training or any protective equipment.
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In the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the four elements in a negligence case, including an asbestos lawsuit, are duty, breach, causation, and damages. Causation is further broken down into actual and proximate causation. Actual causation is established through the use of the “but for” test. The injury would not have occurred but for defendant’s negligent conduct. In other words, if X doesn’t happen, Y won’t happen.

However, actual causation is not the end of the story. For example, if a person loses a leg at age 10 and then drives to a shopping mall at age 30, and is injured by a pothole next to a handicapped parking space, it is a true statement that the injury would not have happened if that person had not lost their leg as a child. The reason being that if the early accident did not happen, he would not have been parking in the handicapped spot. However, it is probably the negligence on behalf of the shopping mall owner that plaintiff is trying to prove. This is where proximate causation comes into play.
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The cities and towns that surround Boston are filled with buildings that are over 100 years old. Many of these buildings contain asbestos insulation in the walls and surrounding old steam or hot water pipes. If they were renovated, as many of them have been, they are likely to contain asbestos in the flooring material, wall tiles, and joint compound used to hold sheetrock together. Workers who have some level of experience working around asbestos know to look for certain telltale signs that a product is likely to contain asbestos. For example, linoleum tiles that are 12″ by 12″ or 9″ by 9″ inches and were manufactured prior to the 1980s are likely to contain asbestos.

According to a recent news article in the Lowell Sun, the old Dracut Town Hall building, which was scheduled to be demolished, contains several asbestos “hot spots” in the under the slate roof. This discovery has caused the previously scheduled demolition project to be placed on hold for an indefinite period of time.

The building was constructing in the early 1880s and used as a small school prior to being substantially expanded during renovations in the past 100 years. While the building served as a town hall for the past 100 or so years, it had finally outlived its usefulness and was slated to be razed.
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According to a recent news article from the North Jersey Record, a Boston real estate development group has plans to demolish an old snack food factory and turn it into a high-end distribution facility. However, before they begin demolition, they must get the proper permits, and that involves dealing with the asbestos present in the building that was built in 1969. This was a time when asbestos was very commonly used in construction due that fact that is a cheap and effective material that is naturally resistant to fire, electricity, and caustic chemicals.

Lawyers in Boston who regularly handle mesothelioma lawsuits know the importance of handling the asbestos remediation process properly. The law requires that an assent or survey be performed by a company certified in asbestos removal. Once the survey is complete and submitted, the developers must obtain a permit. Only after this is complete can demolition work commence.

While there is no question that asbestos fibers cause a deadly form of cancer known as mesothelioma, lung cancer, and other serious respiratory illnesses, it is generally considered safe after being installed in a building. It was during the installation processes that workers could be exposed. The demolition process poses an even greater risk of asbestos exposure to workers and the surrounding community, due to the destructive nature of the work and the amount of dust that can be released.
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An elementary school in Swampscott, Massachusetts was forced to shut down because it is literally falling apart, according to a recent news article from CBS Boston. One of the main concerns is that as the walls are crumbling and the floors are buckling, staff and students are being exposed to asbestos that the plaster is likely to contain.

The community has been trying to get funding for years to replace the deteriorating building that was built over a century ago, but the funding necessary to build a new school isn’t there. Perhaps now, with the asbestos fear, the town can find funding to replace a building that school officials refer to as a dinosaur.

The best argument raised by those in support of a new elementary school is that the tax payers are going to spend millions on either repairing the current school or building a new one, and it makes more sense to invest in the future by constructing a new facility. As mesothelioma lawyers who practice in the Boston area understand, renovating the building requires an expensive asbestos removal process that must be done according to rigid safety and health standards to avoid placing staff and students at risk of inhaling asbestos fibers.

While there is no telling how many workers were exposed to asbestos during the construction process 104 years ago, and it is likely that people were exposed and developed mesothelioma, asbestos in a stable state is generally considered safe for building occupants. When the building begins to crumble, the asbestos fibers are released into the air. If the fibers are inhaled, they can become embedded into the tissue of the lungs and other organs. There is no way for doctors to remove the fibers that over time can cause mesothelioma, lung cancer, and other serious diseases.
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According to a recent story from WFMZ-TV News, one eastern Pennsylvania school district is planning on removing construction debris containing asbestos that was buried in the woods behind an elementary school a year ago.

School officials report that construction debris (mostly residential siding material) was illegally dumped on school property during the summer when school was out of session. When school officials found the debris, they had no idea who left it there, but decided that the quickest way to deal with the problem was to have it buried in the woods behind the school.

After obtaining permission from the school board, school officials had the asbestos containing debris buried in a hole lined with clay. The clay was used in an attempt to prevent asbestos from leaching into the soil surrounding the material.

The new school superintendent learned the asbestos was buried behind his school when he came to the board with plans to construct a nature trail in those same woods. He was told that he should not dig near where the asbestos was buried.

At a board meeting, members agreed to fund the costs of having a licensed asbestos removal company unearth and properly dispose of the cancer-causing material. This is a very sensitive project that requires extreme caution to avoid asbestos fibers from contaminating the surrounding area or being released into the air.

If inhaled, asbestos fibers can become embedded in the lungs and other body organs. When the fibers become imbedded in the mesothelium layer of organ tissue, they can cause mesothelioma, which is a deadly form of cancer. The fibers can also cause lung cancer. As our Boston attorneys who represent mesothelioma victims and their families understand, the disease often doesn’t manifest itself in patients until around 20 to 50 years after exposure. Even if a person knows they were exposed to asbestos, there is nothing doctors can do to remove the deadly fibers or prevent the disease. Most victims can only wait and hope they do not become sick.
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It has been well established that exposure to asbestos fibers and dust is linked to a deadly type of cancer known as mesothelioma, as well as lung cancer. According to recent report from London Imperial College News, asbestos exposure is now linked to a type of lung disease known as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is medical condition in which deep lung issue becomes thick and scarred. As the thickness of the lung tissue increases, the lungs lose their ability to transfer oxygen into the bloodstream. The internal organs, including the brain, cannot function properly without oxygen and begin to fail. As time goes by, the condition gets worse and the organ failure continues. The amount of time it takes to progress varies from person to person, but the condition is chronic and can eventually result in death.

Historically, while doctors were able to diagnose patients suffering from IPF, the cause was not known. It was only known that the condition typically affects patients who are middle-aged and older. However, this new research seems to point to asbestos exposure as least one major cause of the deadly lung disease. As our Boston attorneys who regularly represent people who become ill as a result of asbestos exposure understand, one of the most tragic aspects of the situation is that, even if a person knows they have been exposed to asbestos fibers, doctors have no way to remove them from the body, and the patient must simply wait for years or even decades and hope that they do not develop mesothelioma, lung cancer, or as we know now, IPF.
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California Environmental Protection Unit prosecutors have reached a settlement with a local nursing home, according to a recent story from News Channel 5. The settlement agreement between prosecutors and the nursing home owners requires the payment of $225,000 by defendants. In addition to the settlement amount, defendants must pay and over $70,000 in costs and civil fines.

Defendants were cited for numerous violations in connection with their efforts to renovate the nursing home facility in 2012. It has been alleged that defendants did not commission a full survey, as required by law where asbestos is involved, and instead relied upon an incomplete operations report.

If defendants had conducted the required full inspection and survey, it would have revealed that the wallboard used in patient rooms contained asbestos. Without having a survey that revealed the presence of asbestos, defendants did not contact the local air pollution control district or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration prior to commencing renovations. The company also did not follow the legally required asbestos handling protocols and did not provide workers with the necessary safety equipment.

Prosecutors reported that, during the renovation, asbestos fibers were released into the air, and workers were exposed to the hazardous substance. It should be noted that this was the second time prosecutors had charged the same defendants with crimes pertaining to improper asbestos removal. The first case involved another nursing home owned by defendants and, in that case, the parties reached a $110,000 settlement.

Our Boston asbestos attorneys know asbestos is a deadly substance that must be handled properly. While it is considered somewhat safe when it is in a stable condition, the removal of asbestos must be handled with extreme caution. When an employer does not take steps to prevent workers and other members of the community from inhaling asbestos fibers, that employer has made a choice to risk the lives of others to save the company money.
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