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Asbestos Legislation Denies LA Funds, Particles Could Be Cause of "Katrina Cough"
By Christopher Tidmore, Political Columnist
January 23, 2006
In the last few decades, nearly 123,158 tons of asbestos has been shipped into Orleans Parish, some only blocks from where school children play.
Twenty-six tons arrived in the 200 block of Camp Street just days prior to Hurricane Katrina, an area surrounded by neighborhoods and restaurants frequented by many.
Post-storm rehabilitations of homes, the related large scale demolitions, or even ubiquitous roofing jobs currently underway on Orleans Parish houses are and will expose thousands of people to asbestos in ways unprecedented in urban American history.
Despite these dangers, a new bill now before Congress would prevent someone who gets cancer due to asbestos exposure post-Katrina from getting relief from the Asbestos Trust Fund.
The proposed Senate Bill 852 would create the federal Asbestos Trust Fund.
Its purpose ostensibly is to compensate asbestos victims by creating a trust fund financed by the corporations who were enriched by the production and sale of asbestos.
Post -Katrina however, provisions have been added to the legislation that would specifically exclude any victims of asbestos-related diseases caused by exposure due to Katrina damage in Louisiana.
Asbestos exposure is a real problem in post-Katrina Louisiana, according to Cheron Brylski, Director of the Louisi...
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