Asbestos News

The Jeffrey Asbestos Mine in Quebec, Canada, has received tremendous scrutiny over the past several years, particularly as more and more people begin developing asbestos-related diseases many years after initial exposure.

Recently, the mine's president, G. Bernard Coulombe, spoke to the New York Times about the controversy swirling around the small town of Asbestos, which has a population of approximately 7,000 people.

The 69-year-old Coulombe told the news provider that he thinks the mine itself can be revitalized, and he has asked the province of Quebec to guarantee him a loan of $58 million in order to do so. He wants to attract investors to the mine, which originally spawned the town of Asbestos in 1879.

Unfortunately for Coulombe, Canada and a number of countries around the world have been spending millions of dollars removing asbestos from buildings and settling asbestos lawsuits filed by workers who were not properly trained to handle the material. Since the mid-1960s, it has been known that asbestos can cause a range of serious illnesses, including asbestosis, lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer that occurs in the tissues surrounding most of the body's internal organs.

In fact, the World Health Organization estimates that approximately 107,000 people die each year around the world as a result of asbestos-related diseases.

Coulombe has received even more criticism over his goal to ship the asbestos from the Jeffrey Mine to countries such as India, Pakistan and Vietnam, where health regulations aren't as strict due to the desire for cheap asbestos as a building material, the news source said. Once the asbestos is shipped to these countries, it is typically mixed with cement and made into roof sheeting and piping that is relatively inexpensive, according to the Times.

While many people outside of the town of Asbestos find it easy to criticize the mine for all of the damage caused by the dangerous mineral, the facility was once a source of pride for the community and is tough for some people to let go, reports the news source.

"The whole asbestos debate is purely emotional," Paul Lapierre, the vice president for cancer control at the Canadian Cancer Society who opposes Coulombe’s proposal, told the news source. "As Quebeckers we were once so proud of our mining industry, including asbestos."

Coulombe defends his mine by saying that the majority of health problems resulting from asbestos have come from other forms of the mineral, not the chrysotile that is produced at the Jeffrey Mine as well as the Thetford Mines located nearby.

However, the World Health Organization declares chrysotile a carcinogen, adding that "the most efficient way to eliminate asbestos-related diseases is to stop the use of all types of asbestos."

The town of Asbestos itself has suffered along with the industry, as evidenced by the former town hall, which is currently vacant. When the town could not afford to pay for repairs on the building, the local government purchased a church for $1 and moved the town hall there. The mine pit and two large mills currently sit inactive, according to the news provider.

For now, the town awaits the province's decision on the $58 million loan, which is expected to be announced this month. The asbestos industry, once the town's claim to fame, has now left a black mark on the community from which it may not fully recover.