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Corporation Fined Following Asbestos Exposure
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has penalized Black Butte Ranch Corporation in the amount of $750. This fine stems from violations related to a friable asbestos abatement project. Black Butte employees performed the work on this project on the east side of Partridgefoot Road in Black Butte Ranch, Oregon.
The DEQ levied the penalty because Black Butte Ranch Corporation has not been given the proper license by the state to be authorized to conduct work involving asbestos. Despite that fact, the company still got involved with asbestos abatement, and undertook a project whereby they removed approximately 26 linear feet of asbestos-containing sewer pipe. This pipe, once excavated, was then broken to small pieces to be loaded into a dump truck. The pipe was further broken by using a backhoe. This process made it easier for tiny asbestos fibers to escape into the air.
Asbestos exposure is tied to the development of mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer that affects 3,000 new patients each year in the United States alone. The disease typically lies dormant for up to fifty years before an individual begins to suffer from mesothelioma symptoms. Once symptoms emerge, the majority of patients succumb within two years.
The broken pipe pieces remained unpackaged and unlabeled at Black Butte Ranch for nearly a month. Because there is no level of asbestos exposure that is considered safe, this careless handling of asbestos was considered a matter of public health and safety.