FILE NAME: Calaveras (CALV) DATE: 1986 DOC#: CALV004 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Newspaper Article
T'ie i arges Pciiy Ciriuiefiwt >n Northern Conformo
MONDAY, JU
`V
S a b T r e a l in A sb e sto s P its
irol foremen Bob Bottgei watched carriers howling we out of the SOO-foot-rJeup mine ot Caicveros Asbestos near Copperepoiis
ndecision on Shuttle
tails Space Programs
Hi I h w h v IVtit
itiieton
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:u i W h ite H 'i-- I n i li m d e t t i l i hetUt'V ii r !><,
est r a y e d c r o f t lias p a r a ly z e d V \ S A s a b ility t o l d a n A nict-
tingUm lie num ber o f crim es re d in Die U nited States ,'| p ercen t lust year, th e in ervase sin ce 1081, the
Olid yesterday.
ccordim: to figures released
S f a t t i L o tte r y 's ;
Allure W aning
Miners Peer
EP Will Bring
S a le s rap : Unemployment
li} (.un I Vjioii In places like ;!>: rem ote
southern Trm iiy County, tin: ecBiing of th e stab: lottery tost fait os the m ost exciting tiling suite indoor jiluuibit.
;jjjjIBS yioii8jjjjiy | ! 11;I B tii ' treliio 1 inKtlc : : : : |
in to buy ;t low tottery' tickets in rr, foili
i- i down-home Las Vesos at t v -im .'itu
tviUi Tbt i tush p lo ttin icad nx>
'suit, months tan u l i e an
lanche at the memory.
S
U.
in a couple nt days now." hi; said.
I'lnpl ate nist uni fls}uia far 'll In sLid i slifip 'tn t tvu.i,
( jMp p B a i t ijn<( i s t i u,r
Hide in the trillino hills of the tirili! Country to Imitr discutir
Is
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niilh.d ushfiitos anil inhaled it s itwis-
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've worked hero bli aiy life, uni i vy newer gotten jack* said Hinton, -M. production upcrlnu-ii il. nt of Calavera.' Asbestos L td, the largist asbestos operatimi in the
.
I : niii t*.p ortic-rs. Calavera
i
/ wmw$$mAWtc# qwoNict ore o u t of th e 5 0 0 -fo o M eep m ine a t C alaveras Asbestos n ear Copperopoiis
ndecision on Shuttle S t a t e - L o t t e r y ' s
Ms
ington
liy Charle* Pvlit inter (nrrmpotitUMI
' V' J fe*
fly Cary F,. Swan
-Miners Feet
EM Will Bring
Unemployment
. ., fly Kevin Leary
t ftrtimrTetarrrspnniftnt
ix m o n th s a f t e r th e sp a c e s h u t t l e C h a e n g e r d is a s te r, ituecl W hite H ouse fa ilu re to d ecid e w h e th e r to re p la c e b tro y e d c ra ft has paralyzed NASA's ab ility to pace fu tu re, m any analysts w arn.
(though a decision is expected soon, perhaps this week, even ardent
congressional supporters of the
! Reports
space program say enthusiasm has dwindled for paying for construc tion Of a new $3 billion space-going
truck that will not fly for at least
st Crimp Rise three or four years.
ce 1981
he num ber of crim es re-
d in th e U nited States
5 percent last year, the
in crease since 1081, th e
ral Bureau of Invesliga-
;aid yesterday,
flit
ceording to figures released
>:bureau, there were mereascs najor categories of crime. The er of violent crimes, including 2Tand rape, went up 4 percent f>.
nerds down at th e White House who have been unable to come to any decision, right, wrong or indiffer ent,'' snapped Representative George Brown, D-Riverside, a long time supporter of the space pro gram and an influential member of
Committee,
`'Their very delay in reaching a
decision th at they may make," Brow said. "And, of course, they
Back Page Cal. P
In p laces lik e th e rem o te tim ber und ranch country of southern Trinity County, th e ; coming of the state lottery last fall was the m ost exciting thing
since indoor plum bing.
Coppcropolis, Calaveras County
You have to roam far and wide in th e rolling hills of the Gold C o u n try to h ear a diseour-
Folks would make a special trip to Archie Fugate's combination
store-laundry filling station in Xen ia W buy a few lottery tickets in
To hard-working family men here, the miracle mineral may cause cancer, but it also provides
hopes of making a quick fortune. It jobs-
:
I I.
was a down-home Las Vegas at the . . Stan liimon has mined and
cash register.
,,s
' milled asbesto^ andHtihaied its invis
Fugate sbl lW ihstaht gaan ible fibers for 21 yosffc. He sayk he is
tickets th: first hour, In those first
few weeks he could not keep up
with the crush of lottery madness. ; ; and I've never gotten sick," said
Nine months later, Fugate Hinton, 44, prqductiori superinten
laughs at the memory.
dent of Calaveras Asbestos Ltd., the
"We're lucky to sell TOOtickets in a couple of days now," he said.
largest asbestos operation in the United, States. "I love it here. I love the job and 1love the people."
"People are just not asking for them," he said, a statement typical
Back Page Col.1
With 170; workers, Calaveras
Asbestos, is the biggest nongovern ment employer in a county with a 0.2 percent unemployment! rate. If the Environmental Protection Agency supceeds ih carrying out its
plau to phase out- production and
letroit: had the highest murder with 58 murders for every residents.
he bureau said it could not in die overall rise, and experts
Marin Writes a M anifesto To 'Nurture' Its Principles
use of asbestos during the next 10 years, lltoton willhe out. of a job.
About 11 million Americans have been exposed to asbestos in the workplace since World War IT,
med that the figures, which
been criticized in the past for
incomplete, did not necessari-
monstrate a trend toward in-
ed crime.
'he figures were contained in ureau's annual summary of its
>rmCrime Reporting program, l gathers erime statistics from
y I6,(i00 police departments other law-ertforeement. agen-
'he program, which the buplans to expand and modern-
By Pant Liberatore
M ellowspeak m ay soon be come an official p art of the lan guage In M arin County.
A civic group is asking local, governments to adopt what amounts to a Marin Manifesto, writ ten in the psychobabble that has earned the county a national repu tation for New Age flakiness.
"We need space to refresh our selves. .. . We need diversity to ex pand ourselves. . . . We need rela
statement says.
Titled "A Statement of Prindples fo r Marin County," the credo will be making the rounds of city councils and other local govern ments during the next few months; If adopted, it would not have the force of law, hut rather serve as a quick referenee for decision-mak ers who may be uncertain about Marin attitudes and values.
Marin Conversations, a panel o f : community leaders, worked two
according to the National Institute of Occupational .Safety and Health,
which predicts that more than 2
million of them will die of cancer and other lung diseases,
: Hinton believes th dangers of cancer 20 or 30 years from now are overblown.
:"I've- worked here since back when they weren't very safety conscious, and I've breathed a lot of dust," said the cheerful Hinton, who
floors. "So far, 1 haven't had any
PageffCofJ
tionships to nurture ourseiytes," the
Back Page Col 4
Page 4 Col. 1
EPA M a y S h u T h riv in g S ie rra A s b e s te s M in
asbestos lor 30 years. He says the mine and Sill workers, despite their obvious high morale, are in danger.
"We made a study for the De partment of Labor in 1981 and 1982 and calculated that during the next 15 to 20 years there will be 9000 excess cancer deaths each year be cause of exposure to asbestos," Selikoff said in a telephone interview.
"Exposure to all types of asbes tos increases the chances of lung cancer and mesothelioma (an in variably fatal cancer of the chest and abdominal lining)," said Selikoff, a pioneer researcher in the field. "Most people don't die until 30 or 35 years after exposure."
However, the doctor said, "for reasons we don't understand, some people don't get it. The amount of danger is proportionate to the amount of asbestos inhaled."
Gordon Coats, 61, owner and president of . Calaveras Asbestos, stood on the rim of his 500-foot-deep mine one day last week and frowned across the yawning, half mile-long open pit.
He was angry. Back in Wash ington, the EPA was holding hear ings on a wide-ranging asbestos-ban proposals that would put him out. of business.
"Mining is a difficult enough profession without having the alba tross of the EPA hanging around your neck," he Said.
Far below', huge 35-ton ore car riers looked like toy trucks as they hauled asbestos-laden serpentine ore to the factory above, w'here it would be crushed, strained, sorted and packaged for sale in plastic 100pound bags.
Calaveras Asbestos produces about 34.000 tons of the fibrous min eral a year in three different grades for use in asbestos cement products. It sells for about $325 a ton.
The open 'pit's steep, terraced walls are lined with grayish serpen-
tos mines in the country -- has pro duced about 600,000 tons of asbestos since it opened in 1962. It will con tinue to operate under full produc tion for another five years unless the EPA adopts regulations that would cut back its operations.
The EPA recently wound up nine days of hearings on the plan to halt the mining and manufacture of asbestos and its products in the United States. It expects to an nounce its decision next summer.
Under the plan, the manufac turing of asbestos-cement would be banned immediately and Calaveras Asbestos would be required to re duce its production by 70 percent. "The day they pass those rules is the day we close up," Coats said grimly. "That will be the day ail U.S. asbes tos firms will go out of business, then the country will have to im port. all we need from Canada."
David Ryan, spokesman for the EPA, described the agency's intent: "The bottom line of the proposal is to have no asbestos in Americanmade products in 10 years. We con sider all types of asbestos to be defi nite human carcinogens, even at low levels of exposure."
The agency figures an asbestos ban would save 1000 lives over the next 15 years at a cost of about 82 billion in higher prices to consum ers. It also would eliminate about 650 jobs of people who produce as bestos products, according to EPA economic impact analysts. That number does not include 300 or so employees who work in the nation's mines and mills.
Mine owne next to a c<
aren't that hestns mfnin
Mine owner Gordon Coats held a handful of ore as he squatted next to a conveyor that moves the ore into his factory
aren't that many people in the as bestos mining industry. Wc are not expecting a very large unemploy ment impact."
That's the kind of statement that sets Coats' teeth on edge. He
believes the EPA has targeted the small and politically weak asbestos industry to show off its regulatory effectiveness.
T believe the little empire builders of the EPA are perptut-
**
35-ton trucks hauled ore to the factory at the rim o f the pit
ing a hysteria and falsities about asbestos for their own benefits, without: considering the welfare of the American public," said Goats, who believes asbestos is vital to na tions ail over the world.'
To him, asbestos is a precious commercial mineral with more than 3000 uses and irreplaceable in many products. Dozens of Third World countries are begging for as bestos-cement pipes for sewers and
were recognized and measures were taken to protect workers.
He is proud of his company's health and safety record and said there have been no eases of asbes tos-related ailments since hi1 m ot
the operation in 1073;
rats invested $1 million in en vironmental and safety improve ments, and spends 8730,000 to 8800,000 a year to meet state and federal standards.
Even its enemies concede that asbestos is an amazingly versatile material. The EPA estimates that 240,000 tons of asbestos are used in the United States annually. The
** iu iuuu etc, floor tiles, insu lation, fireproofing and wall cover ings. Brakes and clutches depend on asbestos' strength and heat resis tance. Its fibers can be spun or wo ven like cotton into fireproof tex tiles for fireproof clothing, blankets and safety curtains.
However, the miraculous min eral became tarnished in 1964, when Selikoff released his pioneering study warning that exposure to as bestos fibers in the workplace dras tically increases the Incidence cancer. Since then, demand for its use in this country has slowly fallen.
Coats agrees that asbestos has caused health problems in the past, but that wag before th e dangers
He beamed with entrepreneur ial pride last week as he escorted a reporter and a photographer on a tour of his spotless, seven-story mill that quivered and shook to the con stant rumble and rattle of the rock crushers pounding the asbestos
from the serpentine ore.
"Our philosophy has always
been to comply with all governmen
tal regulations and maintain a
healthy place for our employees to
work. ,
V:
' ;
"Sure, there are hazards i n '
dealing with asbestos, just as there
are many other minerals and indus- -
trial commodities th at can be iniurious if he adequately controlled,' he said.
"Gasoline, oenzene ana elec
tricity can all lie dangerous, but they are useful, so we have learned
to deal with them," he argued. "We don't ban them."