The Environmental Working Group website has reported that in February 2008, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials was working on a bill to ban most uses of asbestos.  If such a bill passed, it would be the first step towards the end of so many senseless deaths and diseases caused by asbestos each year.   Maybe if the US would ban the use of asbestos, other countries over the world would follow suit and these illnesses and deaths would not have to occur.Keeping our senators and congressman informed of that fact that we want asbestos banned from our lives is one way to try to make our children will not have these issues to deal with.EWG is a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, DC that uses the power of information to protect human health and the environment. The group’s research on asbestos is available online at http://www.ewg.org/node/26066.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court reinstated penalties against Harenda Enterprises Incorporated in a mid-March decision.

Harenda Enterprises Incorporated is accused of violating Wisconsin’s rules regarding asbestos management during the renovation of the Milwaukee Theatre.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that the firm is liable for violating the state regulations regarding asbestos removal. The court ruling reinstated a previous order that required Harenda to pay penalties and surcharges for their failure to remove asbestos.

The first complaint was filed by the state in 2003 after Harenda was hired to assist in the renovation of the Milwaukee Theatre.

The three dissenting judges stated that their decision was based on the failure of both state and federal regulators to clearly articulate the violations.

Asbestos is a hazardous substance that is the cause of both serious illness and death. Asbestos exposure has been linked to both asbestosis and mesothelioma.

Asbestos attorneys are currently working on cases that involve the mishandling of asbestos removal.

          Most people think the use of asbestos has been banned, but it has not. Although there are more controls in place by the Consumer Products Safety Commission, information obtained from the Environmental Working Group website states that an estimated 1.5 million pounds of asbestos is contained in products that are sold in the US every year.

          The EPA has tried to ban asbestos in the past, with no success.  You would think with so much illness caused by asbestos it would have been banned by now.  Since the effects of asbestos often do not appear for decades, even if asbestos were banned today, the ill-effects from asbestos exposure would go on for 50 or more years.  Continuing to use asbestos is wrong and totally inexcusable.  This non-action only increases the numbers of needless illnesses and deaths for many years to come.             EWG is a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, DC that uses the power of information to protect human health and the environment. The group’s research on asbestos is available online at http://www.ewg.org/node/26066.