City Leaders Call on Wyden, Smith to Reject Asbestos Bill

Health - A measure to give manufacturers some cover from injury lawsuits has implications locally

Tuesday, January 17, 2006
ANNA GRIFFIN
The Oregonian

Never shy about wading into national policy debates, the Portland City Council is asking members of Congress to oppose an attempt to shield companies that produce asbestos from full financial liability.

In a letter mailed last week, Mayor Tom Potter and his City Council colleagues asked Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith to oppose the "Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act."

That measure would shield manufacturers that expose their workers to asbestos from further lawsuits. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., has promised to bring it up for a vote when Congress returns next month to Washington, D.C.

Despite asbestos' potential for causing cancer and other serious illness if inhaled, the fibrous mineral is still a regular component in brake liners, insulation and tile. Over the past few years, more than 70 U.S. companies have gone into bankruptcy because of asbestos lawsuits.

Under the new federal proposal, businesses that may be liable for asbestos-related illnesses would pay into a $140 billion trust fund for victims of asbestos-related illnesses. People who can show that asbestos caused their health problems could apply to the government for financial relief, rather than suing asbestos producers. The federal government would oversee the trust fund.

Supporters say the bill would help keep big manufacturers such as Owens Corning and W.R. Grace in business while ensuring that people suffering from cancer and other asbestos-related illness receive financial compensation. They also say asbestos litigation threatens to create gridlock in the courts.

Critics say the measure is a bone to big business that unfairly puts the burden of proof on sick people to show that asbestos caused their illnesses. They also say $140 billion isn't anywhere near enough to help all the people who are ill because of asbestos.

For Portland leaders, who have in recent years let Congress know about their opposition to the invasion of Iraq and the USA Patriot Act, there's a local connection: The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say two old city plants -- the old Vermiculite-Northwest site on North Harding Avenue and the Supreme Perlite factory on North Suttle Road --were major processors of vermiculite, a lightweight mineral used in insulation and packing material that may contain asbestos, during the latter half of the 1900s.

Multnomah County circuit judges have created a special docket to handle asbestos cases that might arise from those factories or from the widespread use of asbestos in fireproofing and insulation on many of the ships that docked at the Port of Portland before the hazards of asbestos became widely known.

"We believe that this legislation was written more with an eye toward relieving large corporations of their asbestos liabilities rather than to ensure that innocent victims and their families are compensated for their injuries fairly and expeditiously," Potter and city commissioners said in their letter. "We urge you to oppose any effort to bring this legislation to the Senate floor until these problems have been satisfactorily addressed."

Anna Griffin: 503-294-5988; annagriffin@news.oregonian.com

*** POSTED ON JANUARY 18, 2006 ***