Posts Tagged ‘dallas cancer lawyer’

Two Contractors Indicted for Improper Asbestos Handling

Thursday, July 1st, 2010

Two Kansas City, Missouri men have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of improperly handling asbestos. The allegations stem from April 2001 to July 2006, during which time the men had been illegally removing and disposing of the asbestos-contaminated materials.

The grand jury found that the men, violated the federal Clean Air Act, and are subject to sentences of up to seven years in prison, and fines of up to $500,000 if convicted.

The federal charges allege the two developers improperly removed and disposed of the asbestos while working on the Citadel Plaza project.

Asbestos is a naturally occurring fibrous material most commonly exploited for its fire retardant properties. When asbestos is disturbed, the toxic material becomes airborne–posing a serious to health threat to those exposed.

Asbestos exposure can lead to the development of asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung.

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Devil in the Details for BP Compensation Fund

Thursday, June 17th, 2010

President Obama

The announcement yesterday by President Obama of a $20 billion Gulf Coast oil spill compensation fund has brought comparisons with the government fund which was set up to compensate victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. In fact, the President also appointed Kenneth Feinberg, the 9/11 compensation fund administrator, to head-up the new oil spill fund. However, important distinctions need to be drawn between the background of the 9/11 fund and the one BP has now agreed to finance.

“With the 9/11 fund, the government compensated people who were victims of the terrorist attacks; in this case the bad actors are for-profit, international oil companies,” says Ben DuBose, a Dallas attorney who represented 9/11 victims in the fund. DuBose says that BP and the other companies involved with the rig should pay all of the claims, not the taxpayers.

“We don’t yet know what exactly this fund will look like or how exactly it will work” says DuBose, but to be successful, he believes the fund must be set up with the following principles in mind:
● Pay claims quickly – if claims aren’t processed quickly, victims won’t get the help they so desperately need and the fund won’t be a successful compliment to the tort system
● The fund should not limit BP’s civil liability and payment of claims through the fund should not act as a complete bar for claimants to bring court claims
● Because the oil spill is on-going, the true extent of damages will remain unclear for some time. Accordingly, the fund needs to allow for full compensation later

President Obama should be commended for pushing BP to finance the compensation fund.  The appointment of Kenneth Feinberg to head up the fund is also a promissing sign.  Now the devil is in the rest of the details. How will the fund be administered? What are the requirements for bringing a claim? How quickly will claims be resolved? The fund should provide Gulf Coast victims an avenue to quickly get financial relief from the economic and environmental disaster they are suffering at the hands of BP. Expediency, however, must not come at the expense of taking away the ability to seek a full recovery in the court system.

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Drilling Mud – From Top Kill to Toxic Slurry

Thursday, May 27th, 2010

Top Kill Operation

The “top kill” procedure currently underway to stop the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico relies on a common drilling industry material: drilling mud – a thick mixture of specific kinds of mud and other ingredients. The Los Angeles Times  is reporting this morning that U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen confirms the “top kill” appears to be succeeding. While  stopping this unprecedented leak and environmental disaster is paramount, the drilling mud used to perform the top kill, as well as the chemical dispersants used by BP, may also be toxic to the environment.

Drilling mud is used routinely in the oil drilling industry to help flush debris out of the hole during drilling and to help cool the drill bit. In order to adjust the viscosity and other properties of drilling mud, various additives are introduced into the drilling mud. This can result in a toxic milk shake. Common toxins found in drilling muds include: asbestos, lead, barium, arsenic and chromium.

Asbestos was widely used as an asbestos drilling mud additive from the 1960s through the 1980s. Oilfield workers that worked on drilling rigs (both land and offshore) during this timeframe were likely exposed to asbestos drilling mud additives on a regular basis as the material was added into the mud system. Inhalation of asbestos fibers can cause a wide range of diseases including mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung, lung cancer and asbestosis.

Stopping the Deep Water Horizon leak is critical to protecting the environment and economy of the Gulf of Mexico. Hopefully, the drilling mud “top kill” procedure will work. Once this disaster has been stopped, however, we need to quickly examine off-shore oil drilling practices and more regulation is needed over drilling procedures – including more regulation of the use and proper disposal of drilling muds.

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Virginia Senate Votes Down Asbestos Bill

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

A proposed bill designed to protect a specific Fortune 500 company from asbestos lawsuits was voted down by a Virginia Senate committee on Monday.

The Senate Commerce and Labor Committee voted down the measure 13 to 2 with just one Republican and one Democrat siding with House Speaker William J. Howell, who had quietly worked for much of the legislative session to garner support for the bill, HB629.  The Virginia House narrowly passed the bill last month. 

The proposal would limit liability for Philadelphia-based Crown Cork & Seal, which employs 300 workers at a pair of plants in Virginia.

The vote came in the last week of the legislative session after company official made an aggressive last-minute push, arguing they would have to close Virginia factories if the bill did not pass. 

Howell has a long-standing interest in tort reform and is involved with the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative group that has been pushing the Crown Cork bill in state legislatures across the nation since 2006.  Howell served as the group’s national chairman last year.

Crown Cork, which invented the bottle cap, bought a small company, Mundet, for $7 million in 1963.  Before the sale, Mundet had been a manufacturer and seller of asbestos pipe covering and block insulation. 

Since 2007, Crown Cork has spent more than $100,000 on lobbyists to get the bill passed and donated more than $100,000 to 46 Virginia legislators or their PACs, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, a nonpartisan tracker of money in politics.

Asbestos containing products such as those made by Crown Cork’s predecessor, Mundet, when handled in a way that releases asbestos fibers, can cause deadly diseases such as mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis.  Mesothelioma is a cancer of the lining of the lung. Currently, there is no known cure for mesothelioma.  Treatments include surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.

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