In May of 2020, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a review of continuing dangers associated with asbestos, pursuant to the the amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). This risk evaluation was widely criticized by scientists and advocates for people with mesothelioma and other asbestos-related disease. In the final month of the Trump Administration, the EPA then issued a Final Risk Evaluation for Asbestos.
Almost immediately, the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), several other environmental groups, leading experts in asbestos disease and several states filed a petition seeking review of the EPA’s risk evaluation with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The petition was filed under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). These same groups also filed a 60-day letter with the EPA notifying the agency of their intent to sue under the TSCA to ensure that the EPA had met its obligation to thoroughly evaluate the asbestos found in buildings across the United States.
The following organizations joined the ADAO in these actions: American Public Health Association (APHA); Center for Environmental Health (CEH); Environmental Information Association (EIA): Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families (SCHF); and Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG), as well as the scientists Barry Castleman, ScD; Raja Flores, MD; Arthur Frank, MD, PhD; Philip Landrigan, MD, MSc; Richard Lemen, PhD, MSPH; and Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH. State attorneys general from 11 states also joined in, including California and Massachusetts.
In a press release, ADAO co-founder and President Linda Reinstein stated, “The EPA’s piecemeal and dangerously incomplete Final Risk Evaluation for Asbestos overlooks numerous sources of asbestos exposure and risk, and understates the enormous toll of disease and death for which asbestos is directly responsible.”
The ADAO intends to follow up with a lawsuit in Federal District Court seeking to force the EPA to comply with the Toxic Substance Control Act in its evaluation of asbestos currently in place in buildings across the country. Anticipating a more responsive government approach, Reinstein of the ADAO said, “We look forward to working with the Biden EPA and Congress to achieve the full protection Americans deserve from this deadly carcinogen.”
Thornton Law Firm LLP has represented individuals and families in asbestos claims since our inception in 1978. If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease, call Attorney Andrew Wainwright using our toll-free number 888-632-0108 or tell us your story here for a free, confidential, no-risk consultation.
