When Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a ban on fracking in New York on Wednesday, he predicted "a ton of lawsuits" against the state. But that is unlikely as the end of a drilling boom has left the industry in no mood for a fight, industry experts and lawyers said. "I think most of the companies in the industry are disinterested in fighting," said Brad Gill, the executive director of the Independent Oil and Gas Association of New York, a trade group. Six years ago, before the start of a lengthy New York moratorium on hydraulic fracturing of natural gas, the governor might have been right. But since then, the fracking phenomenon has turned from mania to mundane. Chesapeake Energy, once one of the biggest leaseholders in New York, last year gave up a legal battle to retain thousands of acres in the state. Norse Energy went bankrupt in 2012 after more than 100,000 acres in the state it leased were deemed off-limits to drilling. The industry's less confrontational stance reflects the dramatic shift in the U.S. natural gas industry over the years since the state's de facto ban came into force in 2008. That year, natural gas prices spiked to a near record around $14 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), and drilling were racing around the country snapping up land rights to exploit new techniques that would unlock decades worth of reserves. Fracking involves blasting large volumes of water, sand and chemicals into shale rock to release... |
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Wednesday, December 17, 2014
NY unlikely to face lawsuits over fracking ban, experts say
Tuesday, July 11, 2023
EPA Seeks Reporting of Asbestos Fibers
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a final rule to require comprehensive reporting on all six fiber types of asbestos as the agency continues its work to address exposure to this known carcinogen and strengthen the evidence that will be used to protect people from this dangerous chemical further. Historically asbestos, a known carcinogen, has been present in workplaces causing significant occupational exposures to workers, sometimes fatal, and has generated a long wave of workers’ compensation claims.
Monday, June 8, 2020
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Saturday, August 28, 2010
There is No Good Asbestos -- It Is All a Killer
Chrysotile Asbestos and Mesothelioma
Assuming an average latency of 42 years, the authors predict that incidence rates will peak in 2009 and that diagnoses will peak in 2014. However, they caution that ongoing use of chrysotile asbestos (which has been implicated but not conclusively established as a cause of mesothelioma) and the release of asbestos fibers from older buildings during demolition or renovation may slow the projected decline.
Epidemiological evidence has increasingly shown an association of all forms of asbestos (chrysotile, crocidolite, amosite, tremolite, actinolite, and anthophyllite) with an increased risk of lung cancer and mesothelioma. Although the potency differences with respect to lung cancer or mesothelioma for fibres of various types and dimensions are debated, the fundamental conclusion is that all forms of asbestos are “carcinogenic to humans” (Group 1).
Although the mesothelioma incidence is anticipated to decline in the coming decades, it may not decrease to background risk levels given that chrysotile consumption has not been banned under the current legislation and that secondary asbestos exposure from the environment will likely continue. Nevertheless, the hypotheses generated from this ecologic study need further confirmation by subsequent analytic studies. The present study provides supportive evidence for an immediate and global ban on asbestos use.
References Top
- IARC 1977. Asbestos. IARC Monogr Eval Carcinog Risk Hum 14: 1–106. FIND THIS ARTICLE ONLINE
- Straif K, Benbrahim-Tallaa L, Baan R, Grosse Y, Secretan B, El Ghissassi F, et al. 2009. A review of human carcinogens—part C: metals, arsenic, dusts, and fibres. Lancet Oncol 10: 453. –454. FIND THIS ARTICLE ONLINE
- Tse LA, Yu IT, Goggins W, Clements M, Wang XR, Au JS, et al. 2010. Are current or future mesothelioma epidemics in Hong Kong the tragic legacy of uncontrolled use of asbestos in the past? Environ Health Perspect 118: 382–386. FIND THIS ARTICLE ONLINE
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Friday, September 14, 2012
OSHA Cites Employers for Exposing Workers to Asbestos - $148,000
The seal of the United States Department of Labor (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
"Asbestos is an extremely hazardous material that can potentially cause lifelong, irreversible health conditions," said John Hermanson, OSHA's regional administrator in Dallas. "It is imperative that OSHA's safety and health standards be followed to avoid accidents, injuries and illnesses."
In response to a referral by the Texas Department of State Health Services, OSHA's San Antonio Area Office initiated a safety and health inspection in March at the Reserves at Pecan Valley apartment complex located on East Southcross Boulevard. Inspectors found that workers were remodeling apartments without the use of proper clothing and respiratory equipment that would protect them from exposure to asbestos.
Specifically, the violations include failing to abate asbestos hazards and ensure that employees work in regulated areas, perform air monitoring for asbestos exposure, use the required engineering controls to prevent exposure, require the use of proper respiratory and personal protective equipment, train workers on the hazards of working with asbestos and ensure that an asbestos assessment is performed by a qualified person. A serious violation occurs when there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
The Miami-based contractors have been cited for a total of 14 violations: Newport Property Ventures LLC has been issued citations carrying $36,100 in fines for eight serious and one other than serious violation; Newport Property Construction LLC has been fined $12,600 for two serious violations and Jamesboys Inc. has been issued citations carrying $18,900 in fines for three serious violations.
The San Antonio subcontractors have been cited for a total of 32 violations: Alex Vega doing business as Alco Painting & Remodeling has been issued citations carrying $28,200 in fines for 11 serious violations; Luis Lozada has been issued citations with $20,400 in fines for eight serious violations; Frank Gonzalez has been issued citations with $9,600 in fines for four serious violations; and Clemente Covarrubias, doing business as Knock It Out, has been issued citations with $22,200 in fines for nine serious violations.
Detailed information on asbestos hazards and safeguards is available at http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/asbestos/index.html andhttp://www.osha.gov/SLTC/asbestos/construction.html.
The citations can be viewed at http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/alco-painting-283535-0906-12.pdf*
http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/alco-painting-472878-0906-12.pdf*
http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/clemente-covarrubias-447453-0906-12.pdf*
http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/frank-gonzales-447317-0906-12.pdf*
http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/james-boy-315630913-0906-12.pdf*
http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/luis-lozada-447973-0906-12.pdf*
http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/newport-prop-constr-283336-0906-12.pdf*
http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/newport-prop-ventures-329062-0906-12.pdf*
http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/newport-prop-ventures-448114-0906-12.pdf*.
The companies have 15 business days from receipt of their citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director in San Antonio, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the San Antonio office at 210-472-5040.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.
For over 3 decades the Law Offices of Jon L. Gelman 1.973.696.7900jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered work related accident and injuries.
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Friday, December 13, 2013
Baseball Plans to Ban Collisions at Home Plate
Bruce Bochy spent his first career in baseball as a catcher, his second as a manager. He has absorbed the crush of oncoming base runners and felt the sickening despair of witnessing his own catchers’ injuries in collisions at the plate.
“The way these catchers are getting speared, they don’t have a chance,” Bochy said Wednesday. “I think it’s better to be proactive before we carry a guy off the field paralyzed and think, ‘Why didn’t we change this rule?’ ”
Now they have decided to do so. In the first step to formally eradicating a thrilling but dangerous staple of the game — and an emphatic response to the concussion crisis that has gripped other sports — Major League Baseball’s rules committee voted Wednesday to eliminate home-plate collisions.
Bochy, the manager of the San Francisco Giants, and St. Louis Cardinals Manager Mike Matheny, whose catching career was cut short by concussions, made presentations to M.L.B.’s senior vice president, Joe Torre, and some other managers in the morning.
The committee eagerly adopted the guidelines in the afternoon.
“It was unanimous that it’s time,” Bochy said. “It was very encouraging. I personally thought either through the managers or general managers or the rules committee, there would be a few more naysayers. But there wasn’t one.”
Some former catchers, like Oakland Athletics...
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Thursday, August 29, 2013
Who Is Paying the Bills for Occupational Illnesses and Disease?
Click here to read the complete report: Use of Workers’ Compensation Data for Occupational Safety and Health: Proceedings from June 2012 Workshop (May 2013) Identifying Workers’ Compensation as the Expected Payer in Emergency Department Medical Records, Larry L. Jackson, PhD, Susan J. Derk, MA, Suzanne M. Marsh, MPA, Audrey A. Reichard, OTR, MPH National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
Friday, February 12, 2021
Health Advocates Petition 9th Circuit for Asbestos Relief from EPA’s Flawed Final Risk Evaluation for Asbestos
Joined by five public health groups and six leading asbestos scientists, the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing asbestos exposure, today asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to review the asbestos risk evaluation issued last month by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
How to Protect Public Employees and Communities From Asbestos Exposure
Despite the courts and public opinion frowning on such terrible events, it is imperative that the legislatures of the nation take the appropriate measures to ban asbestos in use, and to require a registry all sites where asbestos is known to be present. Additionally, the sites should be publicly listed in a registry by the US EPA and those site declared to be areas where a potential health emergency exists.
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Foster Farms outbreak sparks legal petition to outlaw dangerous pathogens
Today's post was shared by Take Justice Back and comes from www.washingtonpost.com
Although hundreds of Americans were hospitalized over the past two years with salmonella poisoning linked to Foster Farms chickens, the U.S. Agriculture Department said it had no power to order a recall on the contaminated poultry. The Center for Science in the Public Interest took steps Wednesday to change that. The Washington-based group filed a petition with the USDA, outlining legal arguments for a ban on four of the most dangerous strains of salmonella. The strains are all resistant to multiple classes of the most commonly used antibiotics, according to the Centers for Disease Control. In its petition, the consumer group included its own analysis that showed 2,358 illnesses, 424 hospitalization and eight deaths have been linked to antibiotic-resistant salmonella strains found in meat and chicken. Most of the cases are from the mid 1990s to present. In its announcement, the group said findings of their analysis “obligates USDA to keep those strains out of the food supply.” Salmonella Heidelberg — which the CDC linked to the Foster Farms outbreak — is one of the strains that CSPI is seeking to ban. The Foster Farms outbreak lasted for more than 15 months, and CDC did not declare it to be over until late July. The agency also said the outbreak sickened at least 638 people, with nearly 40 percent requiring hospitalization. The company has made a number of changes in its plants over the past year and says that, over the past several months, the rate... |
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Bloomberg Public Health Legacy Lauded In NYC
Michael Bloomberg steered New York City through economic recession, a catastrophic hurricane and the aftermath of 9/11, but he may always be remembered, accurately or not, as the mayor who wanted to ban the Big Gulp. After 12 years, Bloomberg leaves office Dec. 31 with a unique record as a public health crusader who attacked cigarettes, artery-clogging fats and big sugary drinks with as much zeal as most mayors go after crack dens and graffiti. And while Bloomberg's audacious initiatives weren't uniformly successful, often leading to court challenges and criticisms he was turning New York into a "nanny state," experts say they helped reshape just how far a city government can go to protect people from an unhealthy lifestyle. "He has been a transformative leader," said Dr. Linda Fried, dean of Columbia University's school of public health. "He has created a model for how to improve a city's health." Coming into office as a billionaire businessman who made his fortune selling data to Wall Street, Bloomberg was accustomed to using hard, cold research to drive decisions, and it was an approach he used effectively on matters of public health. Bloomberg pushed to ban smoking in indoor public spaces and prohibit cigarette sales to anyone under 21. He got artificial trans-fat banned from restaurant food — an action that led fast food giants like McDonald's and Dunkin Donuts to change their recipes rather than lose access to the... |
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Thursday, December 18, 2014
Citing Health Risks, Cuomo Bans Fracking in New York State
Today's post is shared from nytimes.com/ Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s administration announced on Wednesday that it would ban hydraulic fracturing in New York State because of concerns over health risks, ending years of debate over a method of extracting natural gas. Fracking, as it is known, was heavily promoted as a source of economic revival for depressed communities along New York’s border with Pennsylvania, and Mr. Cuomo had once been poised to embrace it. Instead, the move to ban fracking left him acknowledging that, despite the intense focus he has given to solving deep economic troubles afflicting large areas upstate, the riddle remained largely unsolved. “I’ve never had anyone say to me, ‘I believe fracking is great,’ ” he said. “Not a single person in those communities. What I get is, ‘I have no alternative but fracking.’ ” In a double blow to areas that had anticipated a resurgence led by fracking, a state panel on Wednesday backed plans for three new Las Vegas-style casinos, but none along the Pennsylvania border in the Southern Tier region. The panel, whose advice Mr. Cuomo said would quite likely be heeded, backed casino proposals in the Catskills, near Albany and between Syracuse and Rochester. For Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, the decision on fracking — which was immediately hailed by environmental and liberal groups — seemed likely to help repair his ties to his party’s left wing. It came after a surprisingly contentious... |
Read more about fracking and workers' compensation
Workers' Compensation: People near 'fracking' wells report ...
Sep 13, 2014
People living near natural-gas wells were more than twice as likely to report upper-respiratory and skin problems than those farther away, says a major study Wednesday on the potential health effects of fracking. Nearly two of ...
http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/
Workers' Compensation: Big Oil's New Pitch: Fracking ...
Jul 29, 2014
The Obama administration, meanwhile, is weighing plans to streamline DOE approval of liquefied natural gas export facilities (though some industry insiders doubt it will speed up the process). The issue has also played into ...
http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/
Workers' Compensation: Fracking: Are elevated levels of ...
Sep 16, 2014
Fracking: Are elevated levels of hydrocarbon gases in drinking-water aquifers near gas wells natural or anthropogenic? Today's post is shared from pnas.org/ Hydrocarbon production from unconventional sources is growing ...
http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/
Jury awards Texas family nearly $3 million in fracking case
Apr 26, 2014
In a landmark legal victory that centered on fracking, a middle-class north Texas ranching family won nearly $3 million from a big natural gas company whose drilling, they contend, caused years of sickness, killed pets and ...
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Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Target Bans the Box
Earlier this year Minnesota extended its existing law to cover private employers. Now, the Minneapolis-based Target Corporation, one of the nation’s largest employers, has announced that it will remove questions about criminal history from its job applications throughout the country. The announcement represents an important victory for the grassroots community group TakeAction Minnesota, which had been pressuring the company to change. This comes on the heels of a similar development earlier this month in California, where Gov. Jerry Brown signed a ban-the-box bill that applies to government employers. The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission gave this movement a lift last year, when it expanded and updated a ruling that barred employers from... |
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Monday, April 18, 2011
OSHA To Fine Employers for Distracted Driving Accidents
The enforcement program was described by Michaels at a symposium on the prevention of Occupationally-Related Distracted Driving conference hosted by Johns Hopkins University. Following the policy announced by President Obama in his Executive Order banning texting while driving, OSHA is calling upon all employers to ban texting while driving.
It is the intention of OSHA to provide education and enforcement on the issue of distracted driving. OSHA will investigate motor vehicle accidents, including cell phone records, and will issue citations and fine employers where an accident involved texting while driving. While OSHA has juridiction over employers, and not employees, it hopes to encourage all employers to declare motor vehicles a "text free zone."
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Thursday, January 6, 2011
EPA Urged to Shut Down Dangerous Asbestos Removal Method
The report supports what Public Justice has been arguing -- that the method both endangers public health and doesn't work.
The approved method requires all asbestos to be removed from a building by trained specialists wearing protective gear before it is demolished. Under the unapproved method, called the "Alternative Asbestos Control Method," or AACM, most of the asbestos-containing materials are left in place during demolition. Water with added surfactants is sprayed on the building to try to suppress asbestos release and contamination.
Read more about the EPA Asbestos Report:
- Fact summary of AACM by Public Justice's Jim Hecker
- EPA's Early Warning Report
- EPA's Health & Safety Reviews
- Teichman Memo
- AACM2 Photos
- AACM2 Report
- AACM2 Work
- AACM3 Report
.....
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