In a report published by the Environmental Protection Agency earlier this month the agency approved asbestos safety measures of the redevelopment work at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in Bayview, California.
Protecting Bayview residents from airborne asbestos fibers has been of utmost concern during the redevelopment of Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. Asbestos is known to cause a range of terminal diseases, from asbestosis to lung cancer to mesothelioma cancer. The latter disease is often considered the most aggressive and typically claims the life of a patient within four to 18 months of diagnosis. Although there is no cure for mesothelioma, some patients may experience an improvement in their mesothelioma life expectancy by undergoing multimodality therapy.
In 2006 and 2007 airborne asbestos dust was released during a grading project connected with the redevelopment of the shipyard. The toxic fibers were released from the soil, as Bay-area soils are naturally contaminated with the mineral asbestos. The homebuilding company Lennar Corp. was fined $515,000 in 2008 by state regulators for failing to properly manage and monitor the disturbed asbestos dust.
Thankfully, the most recent investigation on behalf of the EPA found that current safety procedures are sufficiently protecting Bay-area residents. In their recently released report, the EPA states, “Strict best-management practices for dust and asbestos monitoring and mitigation are in place to protect the community and keep exposure to asbestos in dust within acceptable levels. The current practice of daily inspections by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (“Air District) and the City of San Francisco Department of Public Health provide appropriate oversight and enforcement.”
The agency went on to explain, “While the Air District did not intend the asbestos air monitoring program to be used to evaluate exposure or health risk in the neighborhood, EPA calculated potential risk using the daily air monitoring data as a screening evaluation of what is in the air directly at the monitoring stations. The results were within EPA’s defined acceptable risk range of between a one-in-one-million and one-in-ten-thousand chance of developing an asbestos related cancer.”
Additional information on asbestos and mesothelioma may be found through the Mesothelioma Center.