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Libby Asbestos Case Goes to the Supreme Court
Missoulian by Rob Chaney
Libby, MT – In a textbook example of the importance of fine print, the state of Montana and its former insurance company have asked the state Supreme Court to decide who’s liable for almost $100 million in damages due to Libby asbestos victims. The state won a district court lawsuit in 2018 when the judge ruled National Indemnity Co. was responsible for the full settlement, even though it only had the state as a client from July 1, 1973, to July 1, 1975. The settlement involved claims from Libby residents who weren’t warned about the health dangers of asbestos exposure from W.R. Grace and Co.’s vermiculite mine between the 1950s and 1980s. When the district court ruled, the settlement amount was estimated to be $43 million to more than 200 victims. Click here for the full text.
Study: Some Talc-Based Cosmetic Products Contain Asbestos
US News & World Report
National – Environmental Working Group (EWG) — an American advocacy nonprofit that commissioned the tests and did the analysis — said methods used by the cosmetics industry to screen talc supplies are inadequate. The voluntary testing method developed by industry is not sensitive enough to screen for asbestos when compared to electron microscopy, the group said. The Scientific Analytical Institute conducted the tests, using electron microscopy to analyze samples. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not require testing talc supplies. Click here for the full text.
EPA Defends Asbestos Reporting Loopholes in Court
Courthouse News
by Nicolas Iovino
San Francisco, CA – Despite identifying major gaps in knowledge about asbestos in a recent draft risk report, the Trump administration on Thursday defended lax reporting rules that let companies avoid disclosing how much asbestos is made, imported and put into U.S. products. “The EPA has offered its basis which is rooted in science, and the court should defer to the agency’s discretion,” Justice Department lawyer Brandon Adkins argued in federal court in California. Adkins was defending the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s December 2018 denial of a petition seeking to close loopholes in asbestos reporting requirements for U.S. importers and manufacturers.
Lax Lead Paint Rules Endanger Children, Green Groups Say
Bloomberg Law
National – EPA has failed to update the definition of lead-based paint, leaving children at risk of lead poisoning, environmental and community groups will argue before the Ninth Circuit Tuesday. The EPA issued a final rule in July 2019 that included the definition and lowered the level at which dust containing lead is considered a hazard, but those dust-lead hazard standards are still too high to protect the public, the Sierra Club, California Communities Against Toxics, and other environmental groups say in their petition for review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
ASTM’s Proposed Definition of CREC May Jeopardize Landowner Liability Protections Under CERCLA
JD Supra
by Amy Edwards
International – ASTM has proposed redefining a Controlled Recognized Environmental Condition (CREC). The ASTM’s definition, as drafted, confuses risk-based decision-making with the implementation of institutional controls, undermining 20 years’ worth of other ASTM and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) work on institutional controls. The proposed CREC definition raises significant questions as to when “continuing obligations” will apply and therefore how prospective purchasers can maintain their landowner liability protections (LLPs) under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA).
Scientists Are Exploring Ways to Use Asbestos Mineral Waste from Mines to Pull Huge Amounts of Carbon Dioxide from the Air
MIT
by James Temple
Washington, DC – The vast surface area of certain types of fibrous asbestos, a class of carcinogenic compounds once heavily used in heat-resistant building materials, makes them particularly good at grabbing hold of the carbon dioxide molecules dissolved in rainwater or floating through the air. The initial hope is to offset the ample carbon emissions from mining itself using these minerals already extracted in the process. But the real hope is that this early work allows them to figure out how to effectively and affordably dig up minerals, potentially including asbestos, specifically for the purpose of drawing down vast amounts of greenhouse gas from the atmosphere.
Partisan Fight Sinks Asbestos Ban Bill
Politico
by Kelsey Tamborinno
Washington, DC – House leadership included the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now bill, H.R. 1603 (116), that won overwhelming support in committee on this week’s list of suspension votes. But Democrats added in a “saving clause” to satisfy a concern from Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) that the legislation might inadvertently affect thousands of ongoing private lawsuits over alleged asbestos contamination of talc powder. That prompted Republicans to pull their support, arguing Democrats “moved the goalposts.” Click here for the full text of the transcript.