Mesothelioma Alert: Florida Mayor Wants Asbestos Pipes Removed From Development Site

Broward County FL, Mesothelioma News - The asbestos-laden pipes in a closed mobile home park have got to go, according to the Judy Paul, mayor of Davie, Florida. She cites concerns that the pipes, part of a shuttered mobile home complex scheduled for redevelopment into a park, pose a risk for deadly asbestos-related diseases.

Mayor Paul isn’t alone in her concern. Across the country, asbestos lawyers and experts have long warned any work that disturbs the material, still present in countless structures, could release asbestos fibers that can be easily inhaled by those nearby. That’s worrisome because those fibers can later trigger diseases like lung cancer and mesothelioma, a cancer of the protective lining covering many of the body’s organs.

While mesothelioma lawyers have been successful in obtaining large settlements and jury awards from those who have improperly used and handled asbestos, medical researchers have fared less well: Mesothelioma is nearly always fatal.

Town staffers had previously contended that the asbestos-cement pipes, which used to function as drinking water and sewer lines for the Palma Nova mobile home park, were safe enough to provide drinking water for a future park. But during a town council meeting in August, Mayor Paul said she’d rather not take any chances.

“There is something I want to put to rest,” Paul said. “When the Palma Nova land is developed as a park, I want it on record that we will remove and replace the [asbestos] pipes. It’s just the right thing to do.”

Locating and removing the asbestos-laden pipes will cost more than $30,000, according to town officials. That raises a point that has dogged efforts to handle and remove asbestos responsibly: Because asbestos inspections and the safe removal of the cancer-causing material can be costly, developers and others often avoid or improperly perform the necessary work, which raises the risk of asbestos-related diseases like mesothelioma down the road.

Such behavior has led not only to much preventable disease but has kept the courts busy, too, with mesothelioma lawyers filing and often winning asbestos lawsuits on behalf of stricken clients and their families.

Four of Davie’s council members have said they did not know the land contained asbestos pipes when they agreed to buy it in December for $12.5 million.

The plan to remove the pipes requires official approval from the town council. No vote was taken during August meeting.

This news story was brought to you by the mesothelioma lawyers at Cooney & Conway. For more than half a century, we’ve brought relief and recovery to those injured by the negligence or harmful actions of others. In the process, we’ve litigated some of the country’s most significant asbestos lawsuits, helping victims of mesothelioma, lung cancer, and other asbestos-related diseases get answers and justice.

Tags: asbestos cement, asbestos fibers, asbestos inspections, asbestos lawyers, asbestos related diseases, broward county fl, mesothelioma lawyers

Mesothelioma Update: Massachusetts Project Cost Doubles As More Asbestos Found

Quincy Massachusetts, (Mesothelioma News) The cost of a demolition project in Quincy, Mass.-part of a multimillion-dollar plan to construct a new concourse road through the city\’s downtown-will more than double after greater-than-expected amounts of asbestos were found on the site.

While Quincy will delay the project until all of the cancer-causing material is safely removed, mesothelioma lawyers and experts say the episode points to a growing concern with demolition and renovation work: asbestos removal can be difficult, time-consuming, and costly, tempting some developers to cut corners-or avoid the work entirely.

Known for its resistance to heat and fire, asbestos was long a popular building material-until it was scientifically linked to deadly diseases including lung cancer and mesothelioma, a cancer of the protective lining covering many of the body\’s organs.

Mesothelioma is almost always caused by asbestos exposure, and while it can take years, even decades, to develop, the prognosis for its victims is invariably grim. Mesothelioma lawyers have had great success in obtaining often multimillion-dollar jury awards and settlements against those who have improperly used or handled asbestos. Meanwhile, mesothelioma researchers have fared less well, with a cure still elusive and the most advanced treatments only prolonging lives for a few months at best.

The Massachusetts demolition project-originally expected to cost $500,000-will now cost about $1.1 million, according to Dennis Harrington, Quincy\’s planning director. As recently as mid-August, it was thought the asbestos at the Quincy Fair Mall site was limited to one section of a hidden floor that had asbestos tiling. But the city was informed in the past few days that the asbestos was far more widespread.

\”It\’s turned out to be about as bad as it can be,\” said Harrington. \”There are lots of hidden floors with asbestos material.\” Demolition work will now be pushed back into the fall-several months behind schedule-to give asbestos clean-up crews time to safely remove and dispose of the material.

But Quincy\’s experience is, in a way, a success story: The asbestos was found and will be properly removed. And that, say mesothelioma lawyers and experts, is something that doesn\’t happen as often as it should. Countless asbestos lawsuits, they contend, have been filed-and can be expected to be filed in the years ahead-because of the negligence and sometimes outright failure of developers, landlords, and employers to properly inspect for asbestos and assure its safe removal.

Renovation and demolition work is particularly troubling, because any activity that disturbs the cancer-causing material-still present in many older structures-can cause dangerous asbestos fibers to be released into the air. Once airborne, asbestos can be easily inhaled by workers or anyone else nearby. This is how mesothelioma typically begins.

The overall project to build the new road through downtown is being funded with an $8.1 million stimulus grant from the federal government. Given the added cost of asbestos removal, the full demolition and roadway construction cost is expected to rise from just under $6 million to around $7 million.

Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch called the asbestos discovery-which he says may include some asbestos that was buried at the site instead of being properly disposed of-\”disturbing and troubling.\”

Said the mayor: \”It\’s there. We have to deal with it. The city\’s not picking up the tab thankfully.\”
This news story was brought to you by mesothelioma lawyers Cooney & Conway. For more than half a century, we\’ve brought relief-and recovery-to those injured by the negligence or harmful actions of others. In the process, we\’ve litigated some of the country\’s most significant asbestos lawsuits, helping victims of mesothelioma, lung cancer, and other asbestos-related diseases get answers-and justice.

Tags: asbestos exposure, asbestos material, asbestos removal, lung cancer, mesothelioma lawyers, quincy mass

Written by cc · Filed Under Mesothelioma News