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RE:
Drop the State Rock: Deadly Serpentine Asbestos
Ore
Dear :
I am writing to request your
support for an important matter that affects the public health and
the public image of our state: the state rock serpentine.
The state rock of California is
lethal. Serpentine is a form of asbestos ore. Asbestos is notorious
for indiscriminately killing tens of thousands of people every year
without regard to the color of their skin, their social or economic
standing, sex, age, occupation, or health.
Asbestos has been called the
worst public health crisis in the history of this country. The World
Health Organization estimates that every year over 100,000 people
die worldwide from asbestos cancers.
In the US, it is estimated that 10,000 Americans die every year from
asbestos-related diseases.
The asbestos public health
epidemic has hit Californians especially hard, in part because of
the number of shipyards, refineries, manufacturing plants, and
former asbestos mines in our state.
California has suffered the most asbestos-related deaths of any
other state.
The state of California leads
the nation in asbestosis and mesothelioma deaths. Beginning in 1979,
when asbestos-related deaths were first tracked, until the end of
2007, the total number of mesothelioma and asbestosis deaths in
California will exceed 7,600.
Staggeringly, Los Angeles County alone leads all of America in
deaths from asbestosis and mesothelioma by a wide margin.
The most recent statistics from 2001 show at least 914 people in Los
Angeles have died from excruciating, terminal, asbestos-caused
cancers.
Our state rock symbolizes a
public health catastrophe, particularly since the companies that
made and sold asbestos-containing products knew of its deadly
consequences. We refuse to accept the mockery of Californian men,
women, and children dying from asbestos poisoning. We ask you to
support legislation to get rid of this pernicious state symbol.
Changing our state rock will
display leadership and vision as we take the callousness,
corruption, and greed that led to the asbestos crisis and replace it
with hope, progressive vision, and a commitment to public health for
all Californians.
California has always led the
way on environmental issues of practical and symbolic value.
Replacing toxic asbestos ore as our state rock with something
environmentally friendly and conducive to human health is as crucial
as it is easily achievable. Your support on this issue will make a
clear statement of your commitment to our health and environment. It
will incur no added cost to the state, and will display leadership
and vision.
Serpentine Has No
Commercial Value to California
Serpentine’s primary commercial
value to the state was as an asbestos ore from which chrysotile
asbestos could be mined. When State Senator Luther Gibson of Solano
County and Assemblyman Pearce Young of Napa introduced the bill that
became law in 1965, serpentine was chosen to show the importance of
asbestos to the California economy.
More specifically, it was chosen to promote the mining and
commercial uses of asbestos.
Asbestos mining no longer exists
in California. To the contrary, this “promising industry” has helped
injure and kill thousands of Californians, robbing our state of our
greatest economic engine – our people.
Asbestos has left the state with
abandoned asbestos mines that are now major Superfund toxic waste
cleanup sites.
Millions of taxpayer dollars have been consumed by abating asbestos
from our schools and public buildings.
Billions have been spent
treating uninsured or under-insured Californians for asbestos
poisoning. Millions of exposed Californians live with the
justifiable fear of contracting cancer from this insidious rock. The
presence of asbestos drives property values down. Potential asbestos
liability can force a business into bankruptcy.
Serpentine Endangers the
Health of Californians
Chrysotile asbestos, extracted
from serpentine, has been listed by the EPA as a carcinogen.
California has banned or strictly regulated asbestos in homes,
schools, and in the workplace.
When disturbed by normal activities such as walking, naturally
occurring serpentine sheds airborne asbestos fibers that drift into
school playgrounds, parks, and neighborhoods. In El Dorado Hills,
the EPA is paving dirt roads and covering bare soil at Oak Ridge
High School to prevent asbestos in the soil from becoming airborne,
where it can be inhaled and lodged into lungs like tiny time bombs.
Scientists have known for
decades that there is no safe cancer threshold for exposure to
asbestos and that even “a little dab can do you in.” Sadly, this
fact was well known in 1965, the year the powerful asbestos lobby
persuaded California to make asbestos our state rock.
California’s State Rock
Should be Accessible to All
Due to its toxic threat to human
health, California’s state rock cannot be brought into classrooms
for study and observation by students. Since serpentine is an
asbestos ore, Californians cannot effectively learn about or
appreciate their state’s natural history and heritage without being
exposed to serious health risks (unless they’re wearing government
certified “moon suits” for protection).
Alternative State Rocks
There are numerous alternatives
to poisonous asbestos as our state rock: quartzite, California jade,
basalt, or beautiful beach sand would be an effective and attractive
symbol for our state.
It’s difficult to imagine any
principled opposition to removing asbestos as California’s state
rock. The only opposition would likely come from the very companies
who are responsible for the public health epidemic in the first
place. Even today asbestos defendants argue that chrysotile asbestos
is safe, and that “they didn’t know” it was toxic when they sold it.
As evidence, they cite to the fact that a progressive state like
California designated asbestos ore as our state rock.
It was wrong in 1965 for
California to choose a toxic killer as our state rock. Forty-two
years later, it’s unconscionable.
I would like to meet with you
regarding this initiative. We have the support of asbestos cancer
survivors and their families, labor unions, navy veterans, cancer
research institutes, educators, asbestos advocacy groups,
environmental protection organizations, doctors, lawyers, and
thousands of occupationally exposed Californians. Please view our
online petition at
www.phlbi.org.
Attached please find a fact
sheet on the dangers of asbestos and the legislative history behind
the current misguided law. Let’s drop asbestos ore as our state rock
now.
Sincerely,
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Roger G. Worthington, Esq. |
Robert B. Cameron, M.D. |
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Director
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Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board |
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Pacific Heart, Lung,
&
Blood Institute |
Pacific Heart, Lung, & Blood Institute |
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Enclosures
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PATIENT PROFILES
