Asbestos Fibers

WASHINGTON -- It began in a soup kitchen with a tantalizing offer to homeless men to do construction work.It ended, according to a criminal indictment unsealed yesterday, in the rubble of an asbestos-poisoned building -- an uncompleted job for which the workers received neither training nor protective equipment.Attorney General Janet Reno called the saga "the tip of the iceberg" of a nationwide trend in which destitute people are hired to remove asbestos, one of the most hazardous jobs in the construction business.

Two days after Fullerton Elementary School was closed amid mounting health concerns, workers were busy laying new tile at the school yesterday in a $30,000 cleanup aimed at ending a persistent mold and odor problem."

A Baltimore Circuit Court jury awarded more than $15 million in compensatory damages yesterday to the families of three asbestos victims who died and a fourth who is terminally ill.The three-month trial found the companies -- including Owens-Corning Fiberglas and Porter-Hayden Co. -- negligent and liable for failing to warn workers about the potential health hazards posed by exposure to asbestos fibers.The verdicts were the latest in a series of asbestos cases brought by Baltimore Orioles owner and attorney Peter G. Angelos' law firm and others.

A Baltimore demolition company has been accused of unsafe handling and storage of asbestos-laden debris at the former Bainbridge Naval Training Center in Cecil County.International Crane Co., at 1300 Race St., has been sued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which is asking the U.S. District Court in Baltimore for unspecified penalties and an injunction against the firm.The EPA is accusing International Crane of storing asbestos-laden building debris on the former base in torn and open plastic bags.

Baltimore County officials who closed Martin Boulevard Elementary School Friday after asbestos fibers were detected in the air met with parents yesterday to assure them that the building is safe."

Sussex Elementary School students who may have been exposed to asbestos face "no immediate health hazard," Baltimore County school officials and Health Department doctors said yesterday."

A Baltimore demolition company has been accused of unsafe handling and storage of asbestos-laden debris at the former Bainbridge Naval Training Center in Cecil County.International Crane Co., at 1300 Race St., has been sued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which is asking the federal court in Baltimore for unspecified penalties and an injunction against the firm.The EPA is accusing the company of storing asbestos-laden building debris on the former base in torn and open plastic bags.

Sussex Elementary in Essex was closed yesterday because tests found high levels of asbestos fibers in the air, and word is expected Monday on whether the school will have to be closed indefinitely for asbestos removal.Baltimore County school officials decided to close the school yesterday and Monday after routine monitoring tests done at the school Thursday night found higher-than-acceptable levels of asbestos fibers.Exposure to high concentration of asbestos fibers can lead to asbestosis, a scarring of the lung tissue, and also has been linked to cancer.

Sussex Elementary School in Essex will be closed for six to eight weeks while asbestos is removed from the building and, beginning tomorrow, students will attend classes at five locations in the area, school officials said yesterday.The school has been closed since Friday, when routine tests found higher-than-acceptable levels of asbestos fibers in the air. Subsequent tests showed that asbestos sprayed on steel beams in the roof has made its way into the building."We went in there [Monday]

The one undisputed fact in the courtroom was that 78-year-old Thomas Godwin had life-threatening lung cancer.But was it his 59 years of smoking that gave the former Bethlehem Steel Corp. worker the disease, or was it 12 years of exposure to asbestos fibers that, as his wife put it, used to cling to his hair like snow?Mr. Godwin and his wife testified yesterday in Baltimore Circuit Court, where 8,555 plaintiffs are suing 13 asbestos insulation manufacturers and distributors."In the 1960s, you saw the warnings on the cigarette packs, didn't you?

W.R. Grace & Co. said yesterday it has reached a deal worth at least $60 million to settle property damage claims filed by the owners of homes and businesses who used an attic and wall insulation manufactured by the Columbia chemical maker. The attics were insulated with Zonolite, which contained vermiculite that was contaminated with asbestos. Asbestos is known to cause lung cancer and mesothelioma, a lethal tumor of the lining of the chest and abdominal cavities. Under the deal, those who used the product can be paid 55 percent of the amount of damages they've claimed in the suit, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A Bel Air elementary school was closed yesterday after authorities found elevated levels of airborne asbestos in one of its two buildings, school officials said. Homestead-Wakefield Elementary was to reopen today after school officials received air test results yesterday. The asbestos was discovered Tuesday after crews removed ceiling tiles Monday night to install an air-conditioning system in the main lobby of the Wakefield building, said Don Morrison, Harford County public schools spokesman.

First, there were mites. Now asbestos in gym tiles. And some parents at Violetville Elementary School are frustrated. Rene Rodriguez, who dropped off his son, a fourth-grader, at the school yesterday morning, said he first heard about the asbestos from his son, not the school. "These people don't communicate anything," Rodriguez said. "My son called me and said, `Dad, pick me up.' When I went over there, I noticed the kids were sitting 10 to 15 feet away from [the asbestos]." His son attends the after-school program in the recreation center where the asbestos was discovered.

A federal bankruptcy judge has ruled that attic and wall insulation manufactured by W.R. Grace and Co. and installed in millions of homes and businesses does not pose "unreasonable risk of harm" even though it is contaminated with a highly toxic form of asbestos. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Judith Fitzgerald wrote that the ruling may "prove fatal" to property damage claims against Columbia-based Grace. The company filed for bankruptcy in April 2001, citing hundreds of thousands of pending claims related to asbestos.

Afraid that potentially harmful asbestos could have been released into the air at Johnnycake Elementary School this week, Baltimore County school system officials closed the west-side school yesterday in what they called "a precaution." The closing occurs two days after officials were roundly criticized by parents at Villa Cresta Elementary School for not responding quickly enough to a more serious asbestos release at that school. A worker in a boiler room at Villa Cresta in Parkville cut into an asbestos-covered pipe before classes began March 20, and air samples taken in hallways eight hours later showed elevated levels of asbestos fibers.

Afraid that potentially harmful asbestos could have been released into the air at Johnnycake Elementary School this week, Baltimore County school system officials closed the west-side school yesterday in what they called "a precaution." The closing occurs two days after officials were roundly criticized by parents at Villa Cresta Elementary School for not responding quickly enough to a more serious asbestos release at that school. A worker in a boiler room at Villa Cresta in Parkville cut into an asbestos-covered pipe before classes began March 20, and air samples taken in hallways eight hours later showed elevated levels of asbestos fibers.

A troubled Towson office tower has been closed for business while inspectors check to see if asbestos fibers dislodged during a renovation were sucked into the building's ventilation system. Baltimore County officials announced late last night that the Investment Building, the workplace of 700 county and state employees, will be closed today because of what they described as unpermitted asbestos work. The announcement came a few hours after county officials disclosed that they have decided to withhold rent payments at the building because of compounding maintenance problems.

Barrels of hazardous chemicals were removed from a South Baltimore warehouse yesterday morning, as the building's owner yielded to pressure from city and state officials after negotiating with them late into the night before. Residents who live near the warehouse believe they are getting sick from chemicals stored and dumped there, and have been asking city and state officials to clean up the site. Mayor Martin O'Malley promised he would have the drums of chemicals removed by noon if the owner didn't do it. It took four workers from CleanVenture Inc., a hazardous materials handler, 20 minutes to pull 11 barrels containing substances believed to be hydrochloric acid and paint waste out of the building at 1700 Clarkson St. The job was completed at noon.

WASHINGTON -- It began in a soup kitchen with a tantalizing offer to homeless men to do construction work.It ended, according to a criminal indictment unsealed yesterday, in the rubble of an asbestos-poisoned building -- an uncompleted job for which the workers received neither training nor protective equipment.Attorney General Janet Reno called the saga "the tip of the iceberg" of a nationwide trend in which destitute people are hired to remove asbestos, one of the most hazardous jobs in the construction business.

Two days after Fullerton Elementary School was closed amid mounting health concerns, workers were busy laying new tile at the school yesterday in a $30,000 cleanup aimed at ending a persistent mold and odor problem."