The events of Sept. 11 left Americans with, above all, questions. The recent 9/11 Commission tried to answer some of them, but rescue workers and New Yorkers worry their health is still in danger. A recently proposed bill could insure them to seek better health treatment.

Soon after Sept. 11, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was quick to assure New Yorkers the air they were breathing — even with the still-prevalant poisonous gas and dust — was safe. An internal investigation later found that the White House Council on Environmental Quality “convinced EPA to add reassuring statements and delete cautionary ones,” says an article published by Inter Press News Services.

During a short time after the Trade Center attacks, the EPA helped clean and test about 4,000 apartments in the area, but tens of thousands of other sites have yet to be officially checked for toxins such as asbestos, mercury and lead.

According to Mount Sinai’s occupational health clinic’s most recent figures, about half of the 9,000 rescue and recovery workers still suffer from respiratory problems.

In March, a group of recovery workers and downtown residents sued the EPA to demand further testing and cleanup, as well as the creation of a fund to pay for medical monitoring of affected people.

A woman who lived one and a half blocks from Ground Zero says she had her home tested and found relatively high levels of fiberglass, asbestos and other toxins. She claims that on the day of the attacks, “thick gray dust mixed with burnt papers pervaded the apartment though open windows.” As a result, she contracted a rash on her face and had severe headaches, sinus problems and a deep cough, she says.

Recently, two Congress members proposed expanding federal health insurance to downtown residents and workers to cover their physical and psychological treatment and the cost of prescription medications. And the bill would increase the number of people being monitored from 12,000 to 40,000.

The Financial Times estimates 700,000 businesses across the United Kingdom may not meet new regulations designed to combat workplace asbestos.

An independent survey conducted by Lighthouse Global suggests more than half of businesses have not carried out asbestos assessments and more than a third have not even heard of the new regulations.

The new regulations, which will take effect May 21, require every business to carry out an asbestos assessment on their properties. If asbestos is found, corrective legal action will be taken. The legislation was introduced in October of 2002 to protect employees from the largest single cause of work-related deaths in the UK.

Travelers Property Casualty Corp.’s proposal to pay $500 million to victims of asbestos-related diseases is on its way to becoming a reality after a judge said the settlement amount is acceptable, says Bloomberg News.

If all goes as planned, the the pact would be one of the largest settlements in asbestos-legislation history, the article says. Travelers insured the Johns-Manville Corp. (which no longer exists) for more than 30 years while it produced and sold asbestos.

“There have been no arguments on the adequacy of the half billion dollars,” says Judge Burton Lifland at the hearing. “A lot of money has been put on the table for people who are deserving. There are never enough funds available for something like this, but nothing’s been shown it’s not fair or reasonable.”

But before approving or denying the agreement, Lifland must consider other issues, such as whether the mechanism for setting up the settlement fund meets the requirements of the bankruptcy code, the article says.

Under the proposal, about $445 million will go to the individuals and families who filed wrongful death and personal injury claims against Travelers for insuring Johns-Manville and not disclosing that asbestos was hazardous. Another $57 million will be used to cover legal fees.

“Travelers failed to disclose information that it is alleged to have learned from its insurance relationship with Manville, including from Travelers’ defense of asbestos-related lawsuits,” the victims said in court papers.

Lifland did not say when he expects to rule on the claim.

In an attempt to end a legislative standoff, Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle recently proposed a $141 billion trust fund to compensate victims of asbestos exposure, says Bloomberg.

The proposal includes $42 billion to be paid during the first five years by companies facing asbestos lawsuits and their insurers, and $4 billion from assets of bankruptcy trusts.

“On the key issue of funding, we remain concerned that while it’s a step forward, it is still short of the mark based on the last discussions on projections of future claims,” says Peg Seminario, director of occupational safety for the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Operations.

In April, Democrats blocked a $124 billion Republican plan to fund litigation that has bankrupted more than 70 companies, saying asbestos makers and their insurers should have to contribute at least $30 billion more for workers exposed to asbestos.

Seminario says that while Daschle’s proposal addresses many unresolved issues, she wonders if a deal is possible given “how far apart the parties remain.’

The number of deaths from exposure to asbestos has skyrocketed since the late ‘60s and is projected to keep climbing through the next decade due to long-ago exposure to the substances that was widely used for insulation and fireproofing, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The government-funded group determined that in 1968, 77 people died from asbestos, compared with the 1,500 people who died from it in 2000 — almost a 2,000 percent increase.

The CDC reached its findings after reviewing death certificates of nearly 125,000 people who had lung conditions linked to inhaling dust or fibers from minerals such as coal or asbestos, but many medical professionals say the real number is far higher. They attribute the underreporting to the inability of many doctors to identify asbestos as a cause of cancer.

Furthermore, they say, the casual nature in which death causes are designated on death certificates for many years complicates the accuracy of the CDC’s report.

It can take up to 40 years between the time a person is exposed to asbestos and the time they die from it. Because asbestos use in buildings increased substantially after WWI and peaked in the late 1970s and ‘80s, death from the material will probably increase during the next decade, said Michael Attfield, a CDC epidemiologist.

“We’re paying the price now for the use of this mineral in almost every construction insulation product used back in the ‘30s, ‘40s, ‘50s, ‘60s, all the way to the ‘70s.

Government regulations and thousands of lawsuits in the ‘80s and ‘90s curbed the wide use of asbestos, but it is still found in more than 3,000 products, including brake linings, engine gaskets and roof coatings. And it is still present as insulation in older buildings.

Government efforts to ban asbestos were defeated by the Asbestos Information Association of North America and the Canadian asbestos industry, which said asbestos can and is used safely today. However, most Western countries have banned the import, use and manufacture of asbestos.

While asbestosis — an incurable disease caused by the fiber — has been on the rise, black lung, which is caused by coal fiber inhalation, has sharply declined.

British reinsurer Equitas has agreed to pay $118 million to EnPro Industries Inc. — a manufacturing company based in Charlotte, N.C. — in a dispute over insurance coverage for asbestos-related claims against EnPro, says the Charlotte Business Journal.

About $30 million of the settlement will reimburse EnPro for payments it has already made on asbestos-related claims, and the rest will go into a trust for resolving other asbestos claims.

Several EnPro subsidiaries such as Garlock Sealing Technologies and The Anchor Packing Co. manufactured products containing asbestos, and EnPro has been involved in many lawsuits concerning death and injury as a result.

Lloyd’s of London underwriters hold about $130 million of EnPro’s insurance for such claims, and Equitas reinsures the company. The settlement resolves all of EnPro’s claims against Lloyd’s underwriters.

“Resolution of the dispute brings our insurance reimbursements from Equitas up to date, while establishment of the trust ensures we will continue to receive cash payments of the Equitas portion of our remaining insurance in a timely and efficient manner,” says Ernie Schaub, an EnPro chief executive.

A West Palm Beach, Fla., woman is celebrating a $1.1 million victory against an asbestos manufacturer, but the happiness is bittersweet, as she must celebrate it alone. Her husband, who would have benefitted most from the lawsuit, died before it came to fruition.

Dennis Kavanaugh worked as a carpenter for more than 30 years, often coming home covered in a snow-like dust — breathing it in, spitting it out — that would kill him slowly, bit by bit for the rest of his life, says an article in the Palm Beach Post.

In 2001, Kavanaugh and his wife Inge learned the upset stomach he’d been dealing with for weeks was the first onset of mesothelioma. In the next year and a half, he would go through intense chemotherapy, lose 50 pounds and repeatedly have large needles stuck into his stomach to drain fluid. But, afraid he would lose his health insurance, he continued to go to work every day despite the pain.

Kavanaugh lived through two trials against Union Carbide, the company that manufactured the asbestos used in the joint compound Kavanaugh sealed wallboard with daily. The first ended in a mistrial, but the second jury found that the company was liable for his illness because it knew the hazards of asbestos and failed to warn its users.

“Who would think the profession you choose could cause you to die?” Inge wonders now.

On June 24, the 4th District Court of Appeal upheld the jury’s $1.153 million award in damages to the Kavanaughs, but the case still isn’t over.

“We respectfully disagree with the opinion that was made, because we feel we did adequate warning,” said Union Carbide Spokesman Scot Wheeler. “While we’d rather not prolong this for the family’s sake, we do believe there are several solid grounds for rehearing, and we most likely will avail ourselves of that option.”

But nevertheless, Inge celebrated the jury’s decision.

“I was actually happy,” she said. “I went to church and thought about him. He never got to hear this verdict. I tell him the words, I know he hears me. It’s a shame it didn’t come when he was alive, because it meant a lot to us for him to know. … It gives my husband peace in heaven.”

Reuters reported this week about half the $124 billion proposed for a national asbestos victims fund would be needed within five years, according to organized labor which is participanting in talks on creating such a fund.

It was reported the AFL-CIO analysis surprised business representatives and insurers at the negotiations trying to craft the fund to replace asbestos injury lawsuits that are said to be crippling many companies. “It appears to be a step away from the table, as opposed to a step towards agreement,” said Julie Rochman, spokeswoman for the American Insurance Association.

Asbestos defendant companies and insurers have offered up to $124 billion for an asbestos fund, but have suggested that they pay over 25 years. But the labor union’s document said that at least $60 billion would be needed in the first five years of operating an asbestos fund — with $54 billion of that needed in the first three years to deal with the big number of claims that may be filed.

Reuters further reported legislation outlining the proposed fund was blocked last week by Democrats in the U.S. Senate, who said $124 billion was not enough to compensate victims. Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist and Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle are steering efforts to seek a compromise.

Talks are continuing with business representatives, labor and insurers in an effort to arrive at legislation to compensate victims.

The St. Louis Dispatch recently covered a conference focusing on class action suits and asbestos-related litigation in Madison County. The conference was organized by Washington Univeristy’s Trial and Advocacy Program, the Journal of Law and Policy and the Coalition for Litigation Justice.

Griffin B. Bell, a former US attorney general said places such as Madison County, which has a growing reputation for large judgments against defendants, bring a “stain on our system.”

Bell was taken by Plaintiff’s trial lawyers who noted Bell works at a law firm whose clients include asbestos defendants. They accused Bell of shilling for corporate America.

Here is taste of the give and take reported by the Dispatch:

“You are a corporate advocate,” attorney Randall Bono shouted across the table at Bell. “I trust the American judicial system because I trust my fellow citizens to do the right thing.”

Bono said that recent attacks on Madison County’s legal system have been prompted by the tobacco industry. Philip Morris lost a $10.1 billion class action case in Madison County last year; two other tobacco companies face similar suits in the county.

“With all due respect to Judge Bell, he has never been to Madison County, he has never practiced there,” Bono said to an audience of more than 125 people. “He doesn’t really have a clue what’s going on there.”

Asked about the possibility of a federal investigation, Bono said: “I don’t care. Bring ’em on. We have nothing to hide. But why not investigate whether the tobacco industry is financing this campaign against Madison County?”

The report included a list of the players at the conference:

Bell, who was U.S. attorney general from 1977 to 1979. Bell now serves as senior counsel for the Atlanta law firm of King & Spalding, whose clients include two frequent asbestos defendants, Georgia-Pacific Corp. and Honeywell International.

Bono, who won a $250 million judgment against U.S. Steel last year for an Indiana man suffering from mesothelioma, an unusual lung cancer that was attributed to exposure to asbestos. The case was later settled for less than $50 million.

Steve Katz, a partner with the St. Louis law firm of Korein Tillery, which won the class action suit against Philip Morris.

Ed Murnane, president of the Illinois Civil Justice League.

Gail Renshaw, of the Lakin Law Firm in Wood River, which has filed a majority of the class action suits pending in Madison County.

Victor Schwartz, a partner at Shook, Hardy & Bacon and counsel for the Coalition for Litigation Justice.

Katz may have hit the nail on the head as far as asbestos victims are concerned:

Katz said that civil litigation is one of the few ways for consumers to gain leverage against a company they believe has cheated them. He said there has been a steady decline in consumer protection.

“What we’re seeing here is an attempt to squash out pockets of resistance” to that decline, he said.