Lawmakers Have Renewed the Effort to Ban Asbestos – By Neil Bedi and Kathleen McGrory (ProPublica) / March 31 2023
They said ProPublica’s recent reporting on unsafe conditions in factories that use asbestos underscores the need for action.
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Citing ProPublica’s reporting, lawmakers on Thursday reintroduced a bill that would ban the use of asbestos in the United States, bringing it in line with dozens of countries that have outlawed the carcinogenic substance.
Even though asbestos is known to cause deadly diseases, the U.S. still allows companies to import hundreds of tons of the raw mineral. It is primarily used by two chemical manufacturers, OxyChem and Olin Corp., in the production of chlorine. The legislation, called the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act of 2023, would ban the import and use of all six types of asbestos fibers. It would give OxyChem and Olin two years to transition its asbestos-dependent chlorine plants to newer, asbestos-free technology.
The chemical industry has long argued against a ban in the U.S. by saying employees are protected by strict safety protocols. Last year, however, ProPublica found that workers were repeatedly exposed to asbestos in some of the plants. In one OxyChem plant in Niagara Falls, New York, former workers said asbestos floated in the air and accumulated in corners and on top of machines. At an Olin plant in Alabama, a longtime janitor said she was tasked with scraping up dry asbestos but wasn’t given protective gear, even while pregnant. (OxyChem said the workers’ accounts in Niagara Falls were inaccurate but would not specify which details were incorrect. Olin did not respond to multiple requests for comment.)
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