Document RJZb20rXRX70GM1ZqwJ38yvvE

FILE NAME US Steel USS DATE 1984 Sept 1 DOC USS028 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION Newspaper Article - US Steel hold interests in asbestos dumps BC Notes Sept. 1 1984 story in Rand Daily Mail South Africa -- US Steel holds interests in asbestos dumps The asbestos dumps endangered thousands of people Barry Castleman Notes Sept. 1 1984 story in Rand Daily Mail South Africa -- US Steel holds interests in asbestos dumps The asbestos dumps endangered thousands of people 5-9-84 5-9-84 Dear USSteel Barriyte Here is holds tore chistos for j in vf intaesrebsetssitntoeresstds umBpOsM PHILLIP | By VAN NIEKERK Mr Robert E'sperance a director of Ores- UNITED States Steel - one of the the : wealthiest and most powerful corpora- totally tions in the world- holds investment interests in abandoned asbestos dumps shareholders which are polluting large areas of the becoming ;. North Eastern Transvaal and creating a health hazard to thousands of peoplea bampaign environment quite high - Rand Daily Mail has dis-- teel based at US Steel's headquarters in . Pittsburgh Pennsylvania told the Mail terday that he was unaware of y situation We are minority he said| adding I can't comment on the environ- - mental situation though US Steel is very very concerned about all $ . over investigation closed profile holding thbryouagshbestos Also Three farms contaminated extensive land and mineral . dumps andin which U S Steel : Asso- high shareholding rights in the area is the British asbestos ciated Ore holds a major have | n multinational Turner and Newall _. months The Mail has established that several been sold in the past 18 Development Trust 3 to the SASA becoming becoming here Lagerdraai farms in the area littered with asbestos They are Piezangsdraai and| familyliving dumps have been sold to the South African Beesthoek On Lagerdraai there an old| cant Development Trustin the past 18 months mill and a tailing dump with a for incorporation into Lebowa righton top of it 4 | At present sparsely populated these con- Mr Guido Sacco the chairman of Associ- taminated farms are soon to be the scene of ated Ore and Steel admitted that they had ~ large settlement by blacks The sales could bein contravention of a taken no steps to cover the dumps on their ; - properties . provision of the Atmospheric Pollution Pre- vention Act that a owner cannot dis- We stopped mining asbestos a long time ; ago about 15 years he said We were a : pose of any asset of that mine unless he has very very small producer At the time we | taken the necessary steps to prevent dust exist- pollution - The Mail was the first to report the ence of numerous uncovered dumps in the area four weeks ago Since then researchers have estimated that at least 200 000 people living there couldbe to the podium- exposed tion tailing Only one dump in the entire asbes- tos area running along the Strydberg moun- tains which includes populated sec . tions of Lebowa shows signs of attempts to asbestos | did not know health os was injurious to the : 1 mining | According to company reports there were both and Piezangdraai seventies operations on Lagerdraai as recently recently as the early | The Turner and Newall Dublin : Consolidatedmineral which has maintained sub- ; stantial base mineral rightsin the area - has been gradually selling off itsfarms with old mine dumps on them ~ All the farms have been sold in the past | Jean cover it and conti- five years and the dumps show no signs of prevent environmental manation having been covered up - companies The main still owningAsociat- land *- At Bewaarkloof - which Egnep sold to and mineral rights in the area are Associat- the SA Trust in May for al- : Development ed Asbestos Lagerdraai Asbestos Dublin most quarter of a million rand - vegetation mmessagees ssagemesssages Consolidated Mines and Egnep alongside numerous other small owners has been planted on the dump but fibres have continued to spill into the road \ ( Turner despite Dublin Consolidated is owned by a wall being built around it and Newall while Egnep is owned by the . for Griqualand Exploration and Finance Com- controlled pany Gefco which is mining Gencor =. " by the . ' Mr C Good the group finance executive Turner and Newall Holdings said ! that as far he knew the mines on Dublin ; property had been worked by tributors Associated Asbestos and As Lagerdraai knowledge | bestos are wholly ownedsubsidiariesof As- sociated Ore and Steel which is controlled : by Oresteel Investmen in which US US Steel has a 49 share andis * the single- newspaper shareholder largest To the best of my and I + must concede its scanty the Government: - Mining Engineer's approval was granted for the sale of the properties However according to an old sIubtanialtaliani employed An Italian company Minerali also holds a Ore substantial interest mines Associated a Prodotti iin n report Dublin Consolidated workers in 1968 working Bewaarkloof valley alone 15 000 in the I its States let