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FILE NAME: Union Carbide (UC) DATE: 2008 DOC#: UC384 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Newspaper Article - Off-Roading Paradise Lost Due to Asbestos 5/11/2010 Off-roading paradise lost due to asbestos... ARTICLE COLLECTIONS Y O i.'a RF. H-.RF.: TA T B ahia - Voficctieiis. Off >'.! Vv k 'U's Outdoor Adventures in PA PA's Official Tourrsm Site has info on outdoor adventures & recreation. Asbestos Removal Services Read Reviews & Get Quotes From Asbestos Contractors. Free Search1 v 'w w S e rvc e M a c '0 go--' Off-roading paradise lost due to asbestos Clear Crr.ek area k Aosed after etadyfh u h carehioyra in it? anei. May 0 2 ,2 0 0 8 j Margot Roosevelt, Tim es Staff W riter For the off-road warriors o f Northern and Central California, few wild landscapes are as enticing as the Clear Creek Management Area, with its deep canyons, scampering feral pigs, rainbow-hued flowers and giant rock formations But on T hursday, a 48-square-mile swath of the Diablo Mountains in San Benito and Fresno counties was labeled a virtual death zone where five visits a year over three decades could lead to lung cancer and other crippling diseases. '\ry, tv Goccie 'Vvert:se:T''?'- ? Patients with mesothelioma cancer have new claim options to consider iv1esQihelioiris-f.3W-Flrm.com Bathroom Assists On Sale Up to 30% off Bathroom Assists Order Today & Save! Free Shipping w 'A A'leg- oVfe'jic;-! coiy Mesothelioma Mesothelioma Lung Cancer - Get Answers | Mesothelioma info... Mesothelioma Cancer Info Symptoms, Treatments, and More. Get Help For Mesothelioma Sufferers Now vwwv Wesotheiionia-Lijng-Crirjcor org T he recreation area was abruptly closed for the foreseeable future by the federal Bureau 01 Land Management, after a three-year by the Environmental'Protection Agency found that dangerous levels o f asbestos dust were being stirred up by motorcycles and other off-road vehicles. Any human use - even camping and hiking - was deemed potentially dangerous, especially to children, and outlawed until the BLM develops a new plan for the area. FIND WORE STORIES A B O tT Off Road V ehicles Bureau Of Land Management in.s. I Environm ental Protection Agency Asbesto-. Bureau Of Land Management (u.s) Clear Creek, which registers 35,000 visits a year, has long been known as the largest U.S. deposit of asbestos, a natural mineral and known human carcinogen. It harbors an EPA-designated toxic Superfund site, the former Atlas asbestos mine. Previous studies over several decades found high levels of asbestos in the a rea, but the results were not as conclusive as in the new 160-page assessment, EPA officials said T hursday. For the last three years, the BLM has closed the area from June to October, the dustiest months. Closing the site yearround was "an extremely tough decision," said bureau Field Manager Rick Cooper. "But my first priority must be protecting the health o f visitors and employees." The bureau, which first studied Clear Creek asbestos in 1992, has warned visitors in parts of the area to avoid breathing dust and drinking w ater from the creek. BLM employees are required to wear respirators on dusty days and to decontaminate after each visit. But off-roaders have largely ignored the warnings. Don Amador, the western representath e o f the BlueRibbon Coalition, a national off-road group, said his group was raising funds to challenge the closure in court. The type of short-fiber asbestos in the region, known as Coalinga chrysotile, he contended, is "not a health risk." Noting that the management area, which has 800 miles of trails, has been named one of the top 10 off-road areas in the nation by motorcycle magazines, he added, "We are in for a long, hard battle." The EPA and other federal agencies, however, have found that chrysotile asbestos is toxic. Acjfc !>' o'V/.'I't articles.latimes.com/2008/.../me-asbestos2 1/2 5/ 11/2010 Off-roading paradise lost due to asbesto... M ? iaaiExperience i f * ! entertainment FREEdom 'savss#V Verton High Speed intern 1 D tH SaV iivie fF.iOS m m fZ tftU Qtttt. SHDS V20/W Phone Advertisement venzpn YOU ART, HERE: EAT Home -- Collcci ions -* Off Rond Vchic.es. Off-roading paradise lost due to asbestos Clear Creek area is closed after study finds carcinogen in Us dust. May 02, 2008 Margot Roosevelt, Tim es Staff W riter (Page 2 of 2) Moreover, officials said, they found other types of asbestos - including tremolite and actinolite - all known carcinogens. To collect samples, EPA technicians rode the area's rugged trails on dirt bikes and in SUVs with the windows down, taking 300 samples in February, September and November. They wore backpacks with small air pumps and filter intakes at shoulder height, close to the torso to simulate effects on children. Ads by Google vcirtisemen; Mesothelioma Law Firm Now Offering Mesothelioma Patients New Legal Options to Consider Mesothelioma-Law-Firm com Mesothelioma Cancer Info Symptoms, Treatments, and More. Get Help For Mesothelioma Sufferers Now www Mesothelioma-Lung-Cancer org FIND MORE STORIES ABOUT Oft Road V ehicles Bureau Of Land Management (u.s.) Environm ental Protection Agency Asbestos Bureau Of Land Management (u.s) The asbestos fight is not the first to roil the recreation area. In 1985, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Sendee listed the San Benito Evening Primrose, a wildflower found only in the Clear Creek area, as a threatened species, touching o ff a 20year battle between environmentalists and off-roaders over howto protect it. After a lawsuit by the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity and the California Native Plant Society, off-road use was officially restricted to 24 2 miles of trails to protect the primrose and other fragile species, although enforcement reportedly has been spotty. Thursday's complete closure seems likely to divide environmentalists, many o f whom are attached to the area's hiking, rock climbing and bird-watching pleasures. "I'm not sure the decision is wrong," said Brian LeNeve, a native plant society activist who led the battle for the primrose. But, he added, "I am also not a fan o f the government protecting us from ourselves-- report, I would go to Clear Creek again with no w orry." Even with the EPA final Emily Roberson, an ecologist with the Center for Biological Diversity, praised the EPA effort as "meticulous in data collection and analysis. It is a much greater health hazard than previously thought. And the BLM is going to have to be very careful if they open it u p .", irargot,ro oseveltt ;latim es.co m Ads by Google Do You Have Mesothelioma? Get All The Facts On Mesothelioma. Symptoms, Treatment, & More! www.Mesothelioma-Lung-Cancer.org articles.latimes.com/2008/may/02/.../2 1/2