Tracy Generating Station

The Tracy Generating Station is a gas-fired facility located about 15 miles east of Reno, Nevada. With a generative capacity of 545 megawatts, it is able to meet the needs of approximately 100,000 residences and small businesses.

Most electrical power generation facilities constructed before the 1980s containing large amounts of asbestos and asbestos-containing materials (ACMs).

Before that time, the health hazards of asbestos were largely unknown, although industry insiders at Raysbestos, W.R. Grace, Johns-Manville and other asbestos manufacturers had been well aware of the facts since the 1930s. In 1977, a plaintiff's attorney in an asbestos case discovered papers that outlined the four-decade conspiracy to keep the public ignorant of asbestos dangers.

Flame, excessive heat and electricity are all hazards at power generation plants. Because of this, power generation facilities made extensive use of asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) in their construction; such materials could also be used in the turbine machinery itself. Other asbestos hazards include:

• electrical cloth
• fire doors
• pipe and conduit lagging
• work surfaces

When these materials became friable (a crumbling state in which fibers are released into the environment), the resulting asbestos dust was not only inhaled, but could become lodged in workers' hair and clothing, subjecting unsuspecting family members to the hazards of secondary exposure.

In 2003, medical researchers in Puerto Rico examined chest x-rays from 1100 power plant workers. Signs of asbestos disease were seen in 13% of the subjects. Power plants are considered to be among the most hazardous industrial jobsites when it comes to asbestos by industrial safety experts. This danger was tragically extended to family members as well. Asbestos dust often became lodged in the hair and on the clothing of workers, who then unwittingly brought the substance home. Several recent asbestos cases have centered on instances of asbestos cancers resulting from such secondary exposure.

Those who were employed at such facilities prior to the early 1980s should discuss this with a medical professional if possible and receive frequent check-ups. Asbestos diseases such as mesothelioma have long latency periods; symptoms may not be apparent until several decades after such exposure. However, new tests allow pathologists to test for the protein “markers” that are indicative of the early stages of such cancers. Early detection and treatment can mean a much better long-term prognosis, although lifetime monitoring is usually required.

This installation was one of thousands of factories, mills, power plants and worksites that, in much of the 20th century, utilized the fibrous mineral asbestos because of its ability to resist flame. While using asbestos was generally considered a way to reduce the risk of injury, it sadly all too often had the opposite effect. Exposure to asbestos on the job has resulted in serious illness for far too many employees. The illnesses caused by asbestos exposure include "miner's lung" and cancer; the largest risk of developing these conditions occurs when asbestos-containing materials become friable, releasing strands into the air where they are available to inhale. Also, pleural mesothelioma, the fast-growing and mostly untreatable cancer affecting the lining surrounding the lungs, has been proven to be caused by mild to moderate inhalation of asbestos particles.

Today, regulators understand the risks of inhaling asbestos, and responsible employers ensure the well-being of those whose jobs put them in contact with friable asbestos. People who labored near asbestos prior to the implementation of such laws, on the other hand, usually spent their shifts in spaces where asbestos fibers were prevalent, and they as a rule were provided with very little information about how to work safely with the mineral. And if the employer did not provide showers, employees carried strands of asbestos home in their clothes and hair, which exposed others in their household to the risk of asbestos-related diseases.

Those who worked here at any time in the past, as well as their spouses and children, should learn more about these health conditions and tell their family doctors about their history of exposure to asbestos, because the symptoms of diseases such as mesothelioma can be mistaken for those of less serious conditions. For those who have been negligently exposed, the legal counsel of a mesothelioma attorney is recommended.

Sources

Bowker, Michael. Fatal Deception: The Terrifying True Story of How Asbestos is Killing America. New York: Touchstone, 2003.

Cabrera-Santiago, Manuel et al. "Prevalence of Asbestos-Related Disease Among Electrical Power Generation Workers in Puerto Rico." Presentation at American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, 2007.

Sierra-Pacific.com. “Tracy Generating Power Station.”
http://www.nvenergy.com/bill_inserts/north_bill_inserts/2003/oct/spp_10_03_ca_insert.pdf