Questions Surround Safety Of Insulation Product

FOX 2 Oakland
Published November 28, 2007

NEWARK, Calif. -- A major manufacturer is set to go to court next month accused of selling a popular product knowing it contained a toxic substance. That product -- called zonolite or vermiculite -- was processed here in the Bay Area. Now a U.S. senator is asking the EPA to take a second look at the factory site amid questions about the public's safety. On Zonolite Mountain near Libby Montana, miners for decades dug up millions of tons of the shiny, golden vermiculite ore for the W.R. Grace Company. The ore was then shipped by train to processing plants across the country including one in the East Bay city of Newark. But, according to federal court records, the W.R. Grace Company kept a secret from the miners, from the company's employees at Newark, from Newark residents and from the millions of people who unknowingly used and most likely still have vermiculite in their homes and businesses in their insulation, potting soil and spray-on fireproofing. According to court and health records the secret was that -- while W.R. Grace was touting vermiculite as safe -- officials knew it contained dangerous amounts of asbestos. KTVU spoke with a former plant manager in Newark who wished to remain in the shadow of anonymity. He said his crew unloaded 300 tons of the ore a week. "We were told that through engineering controls that the material was safe," says the plant manager. "You work for a company you feel the people you work for are honest and straightforward. It is very hurtful. You gave them 10 years of your life and did the best job you could. And their whole intent was to deceive you and maximize profit." While W.R. Grace closed the mine in 1990 and a different company now occupies the former plant in Newark, there are still concerns about asbestos exposure. The environmental protection agency says it decontaminated the site six years ago. "The site itself is quite safe. Any dust has been completely removed," says EPA representative Bret Moxley. "The rest has been covered in pavement and any places where asbestos or vermiculite were found have been dug out and replaced with clean fill." Despite that assertion, there have been some who questioned how thoroughly the job was done. Congressional investigators released a report last month that faulted the EPA for failing to notify city officials or the nearby Newark community about the contamination or the clean-up. "EPA has to go back in to these sites that they've already cleaned and do another study," says Sen. Barbara Boxer. Less than half a mile down smith road from the former grace plant in Newark are dozens of homes. Therein lies the main concern of some environmental activists. "There's a very real possibility that some people who either lived in the area or came in contact with people who worked in the area may have been exposed to asbestos," says Environmental Working Group member Bill Walker. "And it is like a ticking time bomb inside their chest." James Durant of the Center For Disease Control agrees that there is some risk to residents: "Certainly there is a potential for exposure through air emissions from the plant in the past." None of the many long-time residents KTVU spoke with say they recall ever receiving any notice from health officials that they lived so close to a hazardous asbestos site. The EPA did leave a notice in the Newark Public Library. That's all the warning neighbors got. Sen. Boxer doesn't feel this notification was sufficient: "They ought to know the hazards. And that's why EPA has not been doing their job to inform people of what the hazards are." As to the millions of people who may have vermiculite in their attics for insulation, health officials say here is no imminent health risk but that only trained professionals should remove it. Tons of contaminated vermiculite was sold to farmers to use in seedbeds. It was up to the farmworkers to mix it into the soil. Health officials also say death rates in Newark from W.R. Grace's vermiculite sold as zonolite are inconclusive. Health effects may not be known for decades. Two co-workers have died from the exposure to the asbestos. The former plant manager who spoke with KTVU says he remains in the dark about his future: "You just have to wonder if you're going to be taken over by the cancer and your life is over. I have a family." The W.R. Grace Company and six former executives have been criminally charged with knowingly exposing workers to imminent danger, but they have denied any wrongdoing. Grace attorneys told us they are barred by a gag order from commenting on the case. Attorneys for W.R. Grace have recently been granted a hearing on whether they can block some government witnesses from testifying against the company in the upcoming trial. That hearing is scheduled to take place on December 12.