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Concerns Over Asbestos Abatement Continue at Lafayette Academy

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We recently posted a blog about substandard asbestos abatement work at the Lafayette Academy Charter School and, at a meeting with school officials and representatives from the Recovery School District (RSD) and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) on July 27th, it was evident that parents’ concerns over asbestos abatement continue due to the possible exposure to their children.

The first abatement was conducted from March through the summer of 2017. The LDEQ inspected the work and found many faults, including children walking the halls around the work area and “sticking their heads in” to see what was happening behind the improperly installed plastic sheeting. This work was supposed to be started in May after school was dismissed for the summer.

The second abatement began in May of this year. Again, LDEQ inspectors found issues with the removal process, including workers walking about the campus wearing the clothes and shoes they wore in contamination areas, thus spreading fibers wherever they walked. The plastic sheeting material was found with holes allowing asbestos to spread.

Concerns over asbestos abatement continue

The Choice Foundation, overseer of the academy, was informed on July 16th by the RSD that the abatement did not follow protocol once again. At that time, the school was closed until it is proven safe for students and faculty.

Meanwhile, school officials, as well as representatives from LDEQ and RSD, continue to claim there was no risk to children during the abatements of 2017 or 2018. They stress air quality tests were far below any dangerous levels.

Next steps

The current abatement should be completed by mid-August, but students will not return until all buildings, contents, and grounds are declared safe which means they will be located at alternate locations throughout much or all of this coming school year.

Students from pre-K – 4th are expected to attend Paul Dunbar school this coming year.

The 5th – 8th grades are targeted to attend the historic McDonogh 35 building on Kerlerec Street. Parents see this as a possible extension of the problem as the McDonogh building is much older that the original uptown Lafayette Academy building and it also contains asbestos. This building is now also undergoing renovation and abatement to prepare for the new students. Though all areas are monitored each day for any sign of mishandling of asbestos-containing materials, confidence is low among parents. Construction on this building should be complete by August 13.

Parents were told the probability classes would resume in alternate locations by August 27 was “extremely high.”

Brett Powers Leads DuBose Law Firm NOLA Office

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In early 2015, DuBose Law Firm opened an office near the central business district in New Orleans to better serve our Louisiana clients.

Brett-Powers - - Mesothelioma Attorney, New Orleans, Louisiana
Brett Powers

Brett Powers, a native of the Crescent City and an attorney experienced in complex tort litigation, including helping clients diagnosed with mesothelioma, was a natural choice to lead the New Orleans office. “I tried a case with Brett in the past and saw his skill, not only in the courtroom, but how great he is with clients,” says firm founder, Ben DuBose. “When we decided to open a New Orleans office, we knew we wanted Brett to head it up.”

Though a native of New Orleans, Brett also lived and practiced law for many years in Lake Charles. “Practicing in Lake Charles taught me many things but the lesson that stands out the most is how important client interaction is to a law practice. When your clients stop into your office on a daily basis, you have to be available to listen and answer their questions.”

In addition to toxic exposures,  he has years of experience involving product liability, pharmaceutical injuries, environmental cleanup, mass torts, hurricane litigation, and personal injury claims.

Brett received his B.A. from Louisiana State University in 1994 and graduated from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center in 1998 with a Juris Doctorate. With 18 years of trial experience, Brett is a trial attorney who is rated AV Preeminent® (4.5-5.0) by the Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings™.

He is a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association, State Bar of Texas, American Bar Association, New Orleans Bar Association, Southwest Louisiana Bar Association, American Association for Justice, Louisiana Association for Justice, and Phi Delta Phi.

With our office in Louisiana, and with Brett’s help, we are positioned to make a difference in the lives of those Louisianans victimized by the conduct of others.

DuBose Law Firm, PLLC

Principal Office:
4310 N. Central Expressway
Dallas, Texas 75206
Phone: 214.389.8199

New Orleans Office:
829 Baronne
New Orleans, Louisiana 70113
Phone: 504.581.9322

Sponsored by Attorney Brett M. Powers, licensed in TX & LA

Shipyard with a History of Asbestos Disease

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Westwego, Louisiana is the site of the Avondale Shipyard, once the largest private employer in Louisiana with 6,000 employees. Three men founded it in 1938, just up river from New Orleans on the west bank of the Mississippi river. The shipyard began its journey through various other owners starting in 1959. These included Ogden Corporation, Litton Industries, Northrop Grumman, and finally Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) in 2011. In August of 2015, HII announced the Avondale Shipyard would be placed for sale.

Over the years, the Avondale facility built barges, cargo ships, even an icebreaker and research vessel for the US Coast Guard. They modernized the USS Iowa and also repaired ships for the US Navy. Shipyard workers and other trades employed at the Avondale Shipyard in the 1950s through the 1970s have brought asbestos personal injury lawsuits against the shipyard for the development of asbestos-related diseases. Older ships were notorious for their use of asbestos and often workers – even US Navy sailors – were unaware of the dangers including lung cancer and mesothelioma, a fatal asbestos disease.

At this time, the shipyard is deserted except for a very small maintenance crew and has not found a new owner.

Marrero Plant Left Deadly Legacy

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When Johns-Manville (J-M) built their Marrero, Louisiana plant to manufacture asbestos-based products in the 1930s, the company already knew that asbestos posed a health risk.  Through ads and other marketing, however, it was touted as a significant asset to the community.

That asset turned into significant health issues as, over the decades, workers from the J-M plant have experienced asbestos-related diseases such as malignant mesothelioma and lung cancer from dust they inhaled while working. These life-threatening diseases often take multiple decades before symptoms are seen and a diagnosis is made.

In addition to the workers, local citizens and family members of workers have developed these serious, and often deadly, diseases. Of the many asbestos-laden products manufactured at the Marerro plant, one of the earliest was asbestos pipes. In the process of manufacture, both crocidolite and amosite asbestos were used. Tragically, workers carried fibers home through wearing contaminated clothing while in their cars, hugging and playing with children when they arrived home and laundering these work clothes at home, usually by the wife. The minuscule asbestos fibers became airborne when touched or disturbed and were inhaled by family members.

This person-to-person spread of fibers was not the only manner large portions of Marrero citizens were exposed. Over a period of years, Johns-Manville also populated the environment with deadly fibers through the distribution of scrap containing high levels of asbestos waste to homes and schools for paving driveways and playgrounds. As vehicles and children playing stirred up the asbestos, countless people, many of whom are only now showing signs of disease, breathed in fibers. Brett Powers, attorney at DuBose Law Firm, New Orleans, stated, “The reckless endangerment of employees, their families, and the overall environment of Marerro was caused by the incomprehensible and irresponsible action of the asbestos industry.”

Many of those who developed malignant mesothelioma sued J-M for negligence and liability in multiple areas, including the manufacture, distribution, and use of products known to have a high potential for serious injury. They also accuse J-M of failure to provide safety instructions and equipment, of neglecting to truthfully report results of product testing and medical studies, and of continuing the use of asbestos when alternative materials were available.  J-M eventually filed for bankruptcy protection in the 1980s.

However, the consequences of the asbestos contamination of Marrero will live on indefinitely for families of past victims and for the victims who are not yet diagnosed.