News Coverage
Wayne County 15th in asbestos-related deaths, report says
Published March 4, 2004
Michigan's Wayne County ranks 15th in the country for asbestos-related deaths, with as many as 391 since 1979, according to a new report by a Washington environmental group.
Oakland County, at No. 81, was the only other Michigan county on the Environmental Working Group's list of the 100 counties with the most asbestos-related deaths. Oakland County had as many as 151 deaths related to asbestos, the report said.
The report analyzed government data on two asbestos-related diseases: Mesothelioma and asbestosis. Some of the victims worked in the presence of asbestos, a fire-suppressing mineral that was widely used decades ago. Others lived near factories or were exposed because a relative worked near asbestos, the report said.
The report also named former asbestos manufacturing sites that are under review by the government to assess their health risks. One of those sites, the Dearborn Western Minerals Co. plant in Wayne County, has 9,069 people living within a half-mile, the report said.
The report warned that 1 million people are still working in facilities that expose them to asbestos, and urged the government to ban asbestos immediately.
It also asks Senate lawmakers to expand an asbestos victim's fund to cover future victims. The Senate is considering a bill to create the fund now.
On the Net:
Environmental Working Group, http://www.ewg.org