Summary

Source CONUS Archive
Record ID 382834
Story Slug ASBESTOS DANGER (1983)
Location TWIN CITIES, MINNESOTA
Format 2 PKGS
Date 09/21/1983
Archive Time 1:13:13
TRT 3:57
Video Description (FOR AN ADDITIONAL FEE, THE REPORTER MICHAEL BREEN IS LICENSABLE) PKG 1: PHOTO OF MAN WHO DIED FROM A MESOTHELIOMA TUMOR, WIFE SOT, WORKER WEARING MASK, CUTTING PANEL, INTERIOR OF SCHOOL, CEILING, INSPECTOR AT WASHINGTON SCHOOL IN STILLWATER, CU OF PIECE OF PIPE ON FINGER, OVERHEAD SHOT OF STATE LEGISLATURE IN SESSION, PIPE CASING, WOMAN LOOKING THROUGH MICROSCOPE, SLIDE UNDER MICROSCOPE, SOT, WORKER PLACING WARNER STICK ON PIPING, SOT PKG 2: MAN WHO DIED, WIDOW SOT, STANDUP, STUDENTS WALKING IN SCHOOL, PAN TO CEILING, WASHINGTON SCHOOL IN STILLWATER BEING INSPECTED, CU ASBESTOS PIECE ON FINGER, MICROSCOPIC IMAGE OF ASBESTOS, SOT, PIPE, SOT
Script (SUGGESTED TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO) In 1978 John Rossi died 11 weeks after learning he had a rare tumor called a mesothelioma. John's widow still remembers what his surgeon said after his operation. The first thing his surgeon asked him was, John, when were you ever exposed to asbestos? You have the most fatal form of cancer. It's called mesothelioma. It's an aligning of your abdomen, and the only known cause for this is exposure to asbestos. Had he been exposed to asbestos between college and law school, he had worked with it for two weeks, for two weeks, 13 years before he died, John Rossi had worked loading asbestos. Rossi's story shows that exposure to even a small amount of asbestos can be lethal. For that reason, the Minnesota Department of Education has been pressing schools to clean up their asbestos problem. The Department says that problem affects about 50,000 Minnesota school children in over 200 schools. The cost for the cleanup, though, can amount to hundreds of 1000s of dollars. This year, the legislature voted to allow schools to pass that cost on by raising local property taxes. A new law says the cleanup can cost up to $25 per student. Federal standards allow students to breathe up to 2 million particles an hour. Local officials think that number is too high. Again, it's situational. And the idea that we can just simply say, here's a federal regulation, the kids can't breathe in or the faculty any more than 2 million particles an hour. It was a reasonable thing to say back when the regulation was put into effect. It's not no bombier says each school district will make its own decision on how much asbestos is safe. Those schools can either remove asbestos, carefully paint over it, or keep students away from areas high in asbestos. Nancy Rossi says, until something is done, asbestos will linger like a time bomb that could explode at any moment. This will be one of the nation's biggest health tragedies of this century. John Rossi died in 1978 just 11 weeks after learning he had a deadly tumor called a mesothelioma. John's widow still remembers what his surgeon said after his operation. You have the most fatal form of cancer. It's called mesothelioma. It's an aligning of your abdomen, and the only known cause for this is exposure to asbestos. Had he been exposed to asbestos between college and law school, he had worked with it for two weeks that short exposure occurred 13 years before John Rossi's death. The Minnesota Department of Education knows that students across the state may also be in danger, but the department doesn't know how much asbestos is too much, so it's letting each separate school district make that decision for itself. The Minnesota Department of Education says about 50,000 Minnesota school children in 200 schools are affected by asbestos. Those schools will now have to decide how much asbestos is safe and how to clean up their problem. To pay for that cleanup, the districts can raise property taxes by as much as $25 a student. Federal standards allow students to breathe up to 2 million particles an hour. Local experts think that level is too high. It was a reasonable thing to say back when the regulation was put into effect. It's not no. Bombier says schools can either remove the asbestos, cover it up, or keep students away from it. Nancy Rossi says if schools and other institutions don't take action, the results will be inevitable. This will be one of the nation's biggest health tragedies of this century. Dr Michael Breen, Channel Five Eyewitness News. TAG: MNH
Not everything listed in the CONUS Archive is necessarily licensable. Reporter sound/image is not licensable

Keywords

MINNEAPOLIS
ST. PAUL
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