Environmental Group Criticizes US Asbestos Trust Bill

Dow Jones Newswires, John Godfrey
Published April 18, 2005

WASHINGTON -- A plan being considered in the U.S. Senate to move asbestos litigation out of the court system would do grave harm to asbestos victims, according to a report to be released Tuesday by the activist Environmental Working Group . "The most disturbing aspect of the asbestos debate in Congress is its profound disconnection from the real costs of living and dying of asbestos disease," EWG concludes. On the other hand, a number of insurers and defendant corporations have criticized the plan for being too harsh on them. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., has proposed creating an industry-financed trust fund from which to pay benefits to victims of asbestos-related diseases. In 2002, 3,939 people died from two of the main forms of asbestos disease, the asbestos-related cancer known as mesothelioma and the often fatal non-cancer asbestos disease asbestosis, according to EWG. Asbestos is not a banned substance, but its use has been curtailed because of litigation risks and costs. EWG found that Specter's plan would delay payment to victims in the near term, cut damage awards to victims over the life of the trust fund, and run out of money long before the nation has seen its last asbestos victim. In the first point, EWG joins a chorus of other critics angry that victims could have to wait for up to two years for an award under the legislation. "Exigent" cases, those where the victim is expected to die within a year, would have to wait up to nine months. "Everyone dying of mesothelioma, some 2,500 people in 2002, would have their cases thrown out of court and be forced to wait for nine months before they could restart their cases or file a claim with the national asbestos trust," EWG said. "Many hundreds of these people would die waiting." Specter's legislation would also limit the size of the awards to victims to about half the size of awards being granted by state and local courts and other asbestos trusts. For example, in last-minute negotiations, Specter increased the proposed award to mesothelioma victims to $1.1 million from an originally proposed $1 million. By comparison, courts and other trusts have tended to award closer to $2.2 million, according to EWG. Even with those limited awards, EWG predicts the proposed trust fund will still fall short of money.