US Asbestos Ban in Jeopardy, Again!
There is a special place in hell reserved for the panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit which on November 27, 1991 derailed an incipient US ban on asbestos.1 Recalling what happened after the New Orleans court denied a rehearing of litigation defending the prohibitions, US asbestos expert Dr. Barry Castleman said:
“EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] wanted to appeal this ruling to the Supreme Court and asked the U.S. Department of Justice to take on the appeal. After the Justice Department refused, EPA asked Justice to reconsider and was turned down again. EPA had to settle for issuing a statement criticizing the court for ‘significant legal errors’ in interpreting the law and substituting its judgment for that of EPA in balancing the costs and benefits of asbestos products banned under the rule.”
The knock-on effect of the verdict was that asbestos use remained legal, albeit at a much-reduced level, for another 33 years.
 Illustration Courtesy of Scott Brundage. |
The failure by the US to act on the asbestos hazard was exploited to the full by global asbestos propagandists as encouragement to other decision-makers to follow suit. Many of them did!
It was with a pronounced sense of déjà vu that on Friday, February 21, 2025 I learned that the same court had acceded to “the Trump administration's requests to pause cases on the landmark chrysotile asbestos and methylene chloride risk management rules for 120 days, or until mid-June.”2 Research into this matter undertaken over the weekend by a US expert on asbestos litigation proved fruitless. In feedback received on February 23, he noted:
“From what I can see there’s been no ruling (and hence nothing published), there’s just been an Order/Stay pausing challenges being brought by industry against newish Biden-era EPA rules on chrysotile and methylene chloride. It sounds like the court issued this order without explanation or briefing – so nobody quite understands the judge’s rationale. I’m guessing that the court is waiting to see if the new Trump-administered EPA just tosses these rules making the whole matter moot. Sadly, I can’t seem to access any docket relating to the matter.”3
The lack of information is frustrating, to say the least. The fear of history repeating itself is very real. Under the administration of Republican President George W. Bush the asbestos cancer risk to Americans was ignored; knowing what we do about Donald Trump, would it be foolish to think that the outcome will be any different this time round? 4 Watch this space!
February 25, 2025
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1 Kazan-Allen, L. October 18, 2011: A Bloody Anniversary. October, 2011.
http://ibasecretariat.org/lka-a-bloody-anniversary-2011.php
2 Borst, E. Asbestos and paint stripper chemical rule lawsuits in limbo. February 20, 2025.
https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2025/02/20/asbestos-and-paint-stripper-chemical-rule-lawsuits-in-limbo-00205199
3 Email received on February 23, 2025.
4 Kazan-Allen, L. Donald Trump and Asbestos – A Global Perspective. December 11, 2024.
http://ibasecretariat.org/lka-donald-trump-and-asbestos-a-global-perspective.php
