Now that one of the most dangerous and wanted men in the country has finally been captured after 16 years on the run, we can turn our attention to the real issue: was reputed mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger exposed to asbestos?

Although Bulger appears to be in great physical shape for an 81-year-old alleged murderer, his time in the Princess Eugenia Apartments in Santa Monica, California may have put him at risk for a number of serious and deadly asbestos related diseases such as mesothelioma and asbestos lung cancer. His life could be slowly coming to an end, and he wouldn’t even know it.

Because the Princess Eugenia Apartment complex was built in 1970, the peak year of asbestos use in the United States. More likely than not, Whitey Bulger’s apartment contained asbestos.

Fireproof and durable, the deadly mineral asbestos was added into countless products from the 1930s through the early 1980s, when it was largely phased out of use due to its connection with mesothelioma and other illnesses. Products such as roofing, plaster, paint, spackle, joint compound and many other common products likely contained asbestos.

If the asbestos contained in those products is left undisturbed, the risks of asbestos exposure are low. But once the materials are disturbed through such actions as sanding, drilling, cutting, or stashing ill-gotten gains, countless microscopic asbestos fibers can be released into the air where they can be inhaled or swallowed.

Whitey Bulger may have unintentionally put himself and his girlfriend Catherine Greig at risk of mesothelioma by cutting open his wall to make the safe which held his guns and cash.

The latency period between asbestos exposure and mesothelioma can be as long as 40 years, meaning Bulger could be at serious risk of developing mesothelioma around his 120th birthday.

Asbestos

W.R. Grace Mesothelioma victims up in arms over asbestos-contaminated woodpiles

For the many hundreds of Libby, Montana asbestos victims who have died, become gravely ill, or have lost loved ones to the negligent and criminal actions of W.R. Grace, the latest news from the proud and rugged town is almost too much to bear.

According to an Associated Press investigation, the Environmental Protection Agency has known since 2008 that two large piles of woodchips on the edge of town might be contaminated with unknown levels of deadly tremolite asbestos, but kept the information quiet. They even allowed Libby residents to haul the material away by the truckload for use in city parks, cemeteries and playgrounds.

Although regulators are unsure about the exact levels of contamination, tests conducted in 2007 showed asbestos fibers on four out of 20 wood samples. While this might appear to be a relatively small sampling, any new asbestos exposure is deeply troublesome for the asbestos victims who have already lost so much to Grace’s folly.

W.R. Grace (of Cambridge, MA) bought the Zonolite vermiculite mine in Libby in the 1960s, and was fully aware that the vermiculite was contaminated with tremolite, a particularly dangerous form of asbestos. Exposure to tremolite asbestos can cause asbestos related diseases such as asbestosis, asbestos lung cancer and mesothelioma cancer. At its peak, the mines employed 200 townspeople, who worked in dirty, dusty conditions to mine the vermiculite, which was used for a popular insulation material.

Mine owners dismissed workers’ health concerns over the dust, calling it “nuisance dust” and allowing them to work without safety equipment. Workers carried the dust home, exposing family members to the deadly asbestos. Waste rock from the mines was doled out to townspeople and was used for fill in playgrounds, running tracks, baseball fields, yards and other home construction projects.

The dangers spread far beyond Libby. Zonolite was spread across the nation via a network of processing plants. A popular DIY pour-in insulation, Zonolite can still be found in an estimated 35 million homes across the country.

To date, hundreds of Libby residents have died and many more have become sick. It’s unknown how many have died nationwide from Libby asbestos. Grace was never prosecuted for their negligence.

“We thought we were coming to an end and now we have this issue all over again,” said Lerah Parker, who used truckloads on the material on her property.

It’s estimated that over 1,000 tons of the potentially dangerous material was used within Libby, and as much as 15,000 tons were sent outside of the town.

Montana U.S. Sen. Max Baucus said he would start his own inquiry into the use of the bark and wood chips.

“The people of Libby have already been poisoned in the name of greed and I won’t allow them to be poisoned again because of negligence,” said Baucus.

Any concerns about the danger of the piles was brushed off by the man making money from selling the material. Paul Rummelhart said he was “sick and tired of those (asbestos) victims” hampering the town’s economic revitalization. He said he intends to sell more of the material if given the chance.

Asbestos

In light of recent reports that there are bark and wood chip products that are contaminated with asbestos, yet being sold in Libby, Montana as well as many other areas, state Senator Max Baucus is stepping in to look for some answers.

The Associated Press recently reported that the Environmental Protection Agency has known for at least three years that wood chips that were contaminated with asbestos fibers had been used in yards, city parks, schools, and other public places throughout Libby. Despite the agency’s being aware that dangerous asbestos fibers were being placed throughout the city, they did not step in to stop its usage until the AP launched an investigation on the matter.

“We’ve made tremendous strides in the effort to help Libby heal with health care and environmental cleanup. But trust is essential to Libby’s ability to heal psychologically and economically,” Baucus said. “Now it appears EPA’s actions may have put that trust in jeopardy, so you can bet I’ll be holding EPA’s feet to the fire to find out exactly what they knew, when they knew it, and whether action is needed to ensure the safety of folks in Libby and across the country who were exposed to this bark.”

Baucus added that Libby’s residents had been “poisoned in the name of greed” and that he would work to pass along any safety information to the town residents and “move forward and create jobs with faith in the agencies and processes that are supposed to protect them.”

The town of Libby has become the synonymous with the increased risk of developing mesothelioma that asbestos exposure can pose. For those who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma cancer that can be linked to asbestos exposure caused by a product or former employer, you may be entitled to financial compensation.

Contact an experienced mesothelioma attorney to learn more about your rights, and to see if pursuing a mesothelioma settlement is in your best interest.

Asbestos

But how small is small?

This old advertisement from the infamous asbestos leader Johns-Manville shows how impossibly small asbestos fibers are: over 1500 of them bundled together are smaller than a human hair.

What is perhaps more astonishing then the relative size of asbestos fibers is the fact that their size was once a selling point for the global asbestos industry.

Asbestos