Mesothelioma Threat – Is Wet Method Asbestos Removal Ethical?
A federal court recently ruled against the city of St. Louis and the city-owned Lambert-St. Louis International Airport for endangering the public by improperly removing asbestos to demolish buildings and construct a new runway.
The court ruling affirmed that the city of St. Louis and its airport violated federal asbestos safety standards in destroying asbestos-contaminated buildings belonging to a community known as Bridgeton. The removal method in question is known as the “wet method,” where water hoses are used to blow asbestos-laden materials from attics, walls, ceilings, and pipes. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has yet to test whether the method is actually safe to use.
Government scientists and public health officials denounce the method and argue its use puts the public at risk of exposure and subsequent development of asbestos-related disease, such as asbestosis, lung cancer, and
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The EPA was not aware that the city was using the method until hundreds of structures had been demolished. It wasn’t until 2003 that the EPA approved the use of the wet method, which the agency hopes to utilize in urban areas throughout the nation. The EPA has both approved and disapproved of the wet method throughout the country. Some towns in Texas, for example, have received approval to use the wet method whereas others, such as the case of an asbestos-contaminated hotel in Fort Worth, are not allowed to employ the method.
The EPA even revoked permission to use the wet method on St. Louis’ city-owned airport in August 2004, just after awarding permission in spring 2003.
The cases that were not approved by the EPA typically resulted from great pressure by local environmental groups, and the approved cases usually occurred in economically depressed parts of various towns that are recognized minority or poor sections. Public and human rights groups have publically decried the innate inequality of using an unproven method of removal in minority or poor areas.
These culturally diverse communities are recklessly being used as an experimental testing ground for an environmental hazard. Many find it hard to believe a social injustice of this magnitude could occur in the United States, but it is a harsh reality that rarely makes major media headlines. Social rights activists argue these already marginalized communities are should not be treated as the nation’s guinea pigs and have called for government officials to stop approving the use of the wet method.
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