By Glenn S. Draper on February 17, 2010
It is undeniable that Puget Sound Naval Shipyard has brought great prosperity to the Kitsap Peninsula. Indeed, the Defense Department is one of the largest sources of jobs in the Puget Sound region. In late 2008, ten thousand workers were employed at PSNS and the number was expected to grow by this year. Of those workers, civilians outnumber military by more than 10 to 1. Throughout the nation’s economic downturn, local crews have continued to renovate some of the military’s most sophisticated vessels, including nuclear powered aircraft carriers and fast attack submarines. (more…)
By Benjamin R. Couture on February 7, 2010
For decades, members of local branches of the Asbestos Workers Union labored across the country to install asbestos insulation products at shipyards, power plants and countless other industrial sites. Now hazardous materials removal workers must go in and take the products back out again. As is now well known, exposure to asbestos insulation and other asbestos containing products may cause mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis. (more…)
By Brian F. Ladenburg on February 7, 2010
A landmark of Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood for decades, Sunset Bowl was torn down in January to make way for a new apartment complex. Though workers were poised to demolish the once popular bowling alley on January 19, the demolition was delayed for a time while workers tackled removal of asbestos inside the building. The workers knew in advance that the building was contaminated with the substance, but once they started working, they discovered more asbestos than had been anticipated. (more…)
By Glenn S. Draper on January 25, 2010
Air-quality testing in the visiting room of an Oregon prison located in Salem found no asbestos contamination. The results cleared the way for resumption of inmate visitations.
On the Wednesday before the Martin Luther King Day holiday, all visitation at the prison was suspended when a prison employee discovered asbestos containing ceiling-insulation that had fallen to the floor of a mechanical room located next to the visiting room. Prison officials were concerned that asbestos fibers could be blown into the visitation area because the prison’s ventilation system, which supplies heat to the visiting room, is located in the mechanical room where the asbestos was found. (more…)
By Adam McRoberts on January 19, 2010
Robert Warren Landon, known as the “Mayor” of Landon Rd, died at home on January 8, 2010 from mesothelioma, a devastating cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. For veterans like Mr. Landon, who served during the Second World War, the occurrence of the disease is all too frequent.
Mr. Landon was born in Aberdeen, Washington and graduated from Bremerton High School in 1942. During the war, Mr. Landon joined the U.S. Merchant Marines, where he worked in the engine rooms of Victory ships, tankers, and C-2 cargo ships in the Pacific arena. The engine rooms were often contaminated with asbestos, which was used to line pipes in the area and insulate much of the equipment housed within the tight confines of the rooms. (more…)
By Adam McRoberts on January 11, 2010
Several landowners in Eugene and Springfield, Oregon are competing to become the site of a new regional Veterans Affairs medical clinic to be built in the area. The clinic will serve local veterans who now must travel as far as Portland or Roseburg to receive specialized medical services. The clinic is expected to be complete in 2014. The planned 100,000 square feet medical facility will host several new treatment centers, including a pulmonary center. (more…)
By Janice Pennington on December 30, 2009
The Tourist Motel in Yakima, Washington has been partially closed after one of the facility’s three buildings was found to be contaminated with asbestos. Asbestos is a known carcinogen, which can cause mesothelioma, lung cancer or asbestosis when inhaled and lodged in the lungs.
On December 14, 2009, the motel was raided by Yakima city officials along with agents from the Regional Clean Air Agency and the Yakima Health District. Asbestos was found in a 30-unit, two-story structure of the motel, which was then shuttered and closed, pending extensive renovation to remove the asbestos. The danger posed by asbestos during renovations is a serious one. When old asbestos fibers are dislodged or disturbed, they are released into the air, where they can be breathed in by workers or those living nearby. The City cannot force the motel owner to remodel the motel. But if the contaminated structure sits vacant for an extended period, Yakima officials can enforce city nuisance ordinances governing abandoned structures.
For more information, go to http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2009/12/29/city-not-likely-to-close-tourist-motel.
