A safety blast for asbestos agencies

WASHINGTON -- The inspectors general of the Labor Department and the Environmental Protection Agency are calling for their agencies to do a better job of protecting both workers and the public from deadly exposure to asbestos.

In a report to be released today, the Labor Department inspector general cites deficiencies in the Mine Safety and Health Administration's efforts to protect miners of vermiculite, talc and iron ore from asbestos fibers, and recommends steps to address the problem.

And the EPA's inspector general, in a draft synopsis of its report, says the agency should "respond more effectively to human health dangers."

But based on recent actions by the Bush administration to overturn rules aimed at reducing pollution and regulating logging and mining, public-health advocates believe chances are slim for the passage of any new regulations that could place demands on industry.

MSHA, a division of the Labor Department, has been trying to implement most of the inspector general's recommendations for more than a year. The mine agency began advising miners of the hazards of asbestos, dramatically modified techniques used to collect samples, and is undertaking extensive tests at a score of mines where asbestos is believed to be a contaminant.

But these efforts mean little unless other crucial steps can be taken that MSHA and the inspector general's office are both recommending:

Lowering MSHA's limit for asbestos exposure for miners. That standard is 20 times higher then OSHA's more protective maximum for non-mining workers. Both the agency and the inspector general want MSHA's standard to be brought into line with OSHA's.

Preventing miners from wearing asbestos-contaminated clothing home, thus potentially exposing their families.

Changing the techniques used to analyze asbestos samples at OSHA's main laboratory, which MSHA uses for its asbestos analysis. Because present regulations demand it, the lab in Salt Lake City uses phase contrast microscopy, which magnifies the fibers in the sample by 400 or 450 times. Magnification at this relatively low level limits the ability to identify the type of asbestos and to detect the smallest fibers.

"For some exposures, substantially more fibers may be present than are actually counted (by PCM)," the inspector general reported.

The more accurate analytical technique, often used by the EPA and other agencies, is transmission electron microscopy. TEM permits magnification up to 1 million times, the report said.

OSHA did not respond to a request for comment on the report.

The Labor Department report said the inspector general's investigation was launched because of congressional response to a 1999 Seattle Post-Intelligencer investigation into hundreds of deaths and cases of asbestos-related illness related to a vermiculite mine in Libby, Mont. In a unique partnership, the inspector general from labor, Gordon Heddell, teamed up with counterparts at the EPA "to provide a more all-inclusive review and comprehensive approach for resolving problems from asbestos-contaminated vermiculite," according to the draft synopsis of the EPA report.

Both groups sent investigators to Libby last August for several days of often emotional meetings with miners or their survivors.

In the synopsis of its report, due to be issued Friday, the EPA team acknowledged several shortcomings it uncovered:

EPA efforts in Libby in the 1970s and 1980s "did not result in regulations or other controls that might have protected the citizens of Libby."

"Authority for taking action was shared among EPA offices ... and with other agencies who had their own laws and regulations. This fragmented authority and jurisdiction, when combined with ineffective communication, made taking action difficult."

"Limitation in science and technology also impeded EPA's effort at determining the degree of health risk."

"Due to funding constraints and competing priorities EPA placed emphasis on other areas, such as asbestos in schools."

The synopsis concluded, "EPA should assess and address, as appropriate, any other asbestos-contaminated mines and situations similar to Libby."

A year ago, then-MSHA Director Davitt McAteer responded to the P-I series and promised, "This will never happen again."

McAteer was angered and his staff frustrated over the fact that the P-I and others who tested the ore at other vermiculite, taconite and talc mines found asbestos contamination and a high number of asbestos-related health problems. But MSHA's inspectors repeatedly came up with nothing.

The reason for the discrepancy was determined by an MSHA industrial hygienist who figured out that the methods the agency used to collect samples were inadequate, as was the OSHA lab's method of analysis.

Robert Elam, acting assistant secretary for Mine Safety and Health, says the changes cannot be done without rule making. That must wait until MSHA has a new boss.

President Bush has nominated Dave Lauriski, who runs a Utah-based mining consulting firm and is chairman of the Utah Board of Oil, Gas and Mining, for the job.

It is unknown what Lauriski, if confirmed, will do about the proposed changes.

There are other potential roadblocks as well.

The changes that MSHA and the inspector general believe are needed would have to receive the blessing of Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs under the White House's Office of Management and Budget.

John Graham, who now runs the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, has been nominated by Bush to fill that position.

Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group in Washington, says Graham's center has been financed, in part, "by industry groups that fight enforcement of health safety and environmental safeguards."

"The president has nominated someone intent on eradicating basic government safeguards to head the very office charged with overseeing them," said Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook.

"Graham has devoted years to discrediting government regulators and shooting down safety standards."

Graham's office at Harvard said he couldn't "comment to the press on anything during the confirmation process."

P-I senior national correspondent Andrew Schneider can be reached at andrewschneider@seattle-pi.com or 206-448-8218.

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