<
https://www.propublica.org/article/asbestos-poisoning-chemical-plant-niagara-falls>
"Henry Saenz remembers when he first learned what even the tiniest bit of
asbestos could do to his body. He was working at a chemical plant where
employees used the mineral to make chlorine, and his coworkers warned him about
what could happen each time he took a breath: Tiny fibers, invisible to the
eye, could enter his nose and mouth and settle into his lungs, his abdomen, the
lining of his heart. They could linger there for decades. Then, one day, he
might develop asbestosis, a chronic disease that makes the lungs harden, or
mesothelioma, a vicious cancer that ends the lives of most who have it within a
few years.
By then, in the early 1990s, the dangers of asbestos were already irrefutable.
The United States had prohibited its use in pipe insulation and branded it so
risky that remediators had to wear hazmat suits to remove it. But unlike dozens
of other countries that banned the potent carcinogen outright, the United
States never did. To this day, the U.S. allows hundreds of tons of asbestos to
flow in each year from Brazil, primarily for the benefit of two major chemical
companies, OxyChem and Olin Corp. The companies say asbestos is integral to
chlorine production at several aging plants and have made a compelling argument
to keep it legal: Unlike in the horrific tales of the past, their current
protocols for handling asbestos are so stringent that workers face little
threat of exposure.
But at OxyChem’s plant in Niagara Falls, New York, where Saenz worked for
nearly three decades, the reality was far different, more than a dozen former
workers told
ProPublica. There, they said, asbestos dust hung in the air,
collected on the beams and light fixtures and built up until it was inches
thick. Workers tramped in and out of it all day, often without protective suits
or masks, and carried it around on their coveralls and boots. They implored the
plant’s managers to address the conditions, they said, but the dangers remained
until the plant closed in late 2021 for unrelated reasons."
Via Doug Senko, who wrote "Raise your hand if you thought that asbestos was
banned in the USA decades ago."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
