Wabuska

The Wabuska Power Plant is a binary geothermal facility located in Yerington, Nevada, 50 miles east of Carson City. It was the first such facility to be constructed in the state, built in 1984. In addition to providing electrical power to the community, it also powers a biofuel plant nearby.

Asbestos-containing materials were used extensively throughout the construction of power plants prior to 1980, and may be present in facilities constructed after that; use of asbestos-containing materials was gradually phased out, and there are still over 3000 products on the market that contain asbestos.

Asbestos is more than a flame retardant; the “blue” and “brown” varieties most likely to cause asbestos cancers such as mesothelioma are also excellent electrical insulators. Some of the areas in which asbestos-containing materials were found include:

• fire doors
• electrical cloth
• pipe fittings and conduits
• insulation
• gasket materials
• turbines and other machinery

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. 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.

The good news is that recent advances in medical technology have enabled pathologists to detect the “markers” of asbestos cancer in its earliest stages, when it is treatable. The disease can recur later however, and lifelong health monitoring is usually necessary.

Through the 1970s, it was commonplace for industrial sites of all types to be constructed with the naturally occurring, fibrous mineral known as asbestos because it excelled at blocking fire. While asbestos' strength as an insulator undoubtedly protected people and property in the short term, the unforeseen results of using it were tragic: far too many workers suffered serious illness and even died due to exposure to asbestos. The reason is that asbestos strands, when inhaled or ingested, embed themselves into the lungs, leading to serious diseases such as "miner's lung" and lung cancer. In addition, pleural mesothelioma, a rare but deadly cancer of the mesothelium, the tissue that lines the pleural cavity, is associated with mild to moderate exposure to asbestos.

Now, we are aware of the risks of asbestos exposure, and responsible employers protect employees who work with or near this dangerous substance. Those who labored near asbestos before such rules were implemented, however, generally spent their days in sites where asbestos fibers were prevalent, and they typically were provided with very little training concerning how to work safely with the mineral. Spouses were also subjected to asbestos exposure if companies didn't offer showers, as employees inadvertently transported asbestos particles to their homes on their skin or in their hair.

Since health conditions such as mesothelioma may not manifest until many years after asbestos exposure first occurs, those who had jobs at contaminated sites, as well as their partners and children, are advised to talk about their history of asbestos contact with their medical care providers no matter how far back they worked there. Workers who may have been negligently exposed should seek the counsel of a mesothelioma attorney.

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.

Geothermal Energy Association (2008, August). Nevada - Existing Power Plants - Wabuska.
http://www.geo-energy.org/information/plantsNow/nevada/wabuska.asp