Document XOzje4ELxz6K4xD3q3QoDDDex

FILE NAME: Eternit (ETER) DATE: 2005 DOC#: ETER057 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Internet Article - Legal Breakthrough in Asbestos Case VI iiw inciuvM icai .. i^ivvvo u ^ j a i uic?cir\ii ti vsuvjii in a o u t ^ o i u a u a o c r a y c i ui i international.sp.nl Legal breakthrough in asbestos case November 25th, 2005 Today for the first time a case has been won by a victim o f a disease provoked by private use o f asbestos products produced by leading asbestos cement corporation Etemit. Etemit was declared to be in the wrong in refusing to pay an advance against compensatory damages for which the guilty party is liable. (Advances are routinely paid against future damages, in recognition o f the grim fact that the victim may well not live long enough to see a court case completed and a final amount set.) To date, this has occurred only in workrelated cases and those involving soil contamination brought about by the use o f asbestos waste, distributed by the company, to pave roads, paths and yards. In addition to its breakthrough ruling, the High Council made an important declaration to the effect that Etemit was by 1971 already aware of the dangers of asbestos and knowingly kept them quiet. This is o f great significance for Secretary of State Van Geel, who has stated that he did not believe that the state would be in a strong position were it to take legal action against Etemit (in favour of which the SP has long brought pressure to bear on successive governments) on the precise grounds that the company would not before 1975 have known o f the health dangers. The case was won by surviving relatives o f a woman who in 1971 was exposed to asbestos dust, when a shed was built in the yard o f the house where she lived. Asbestos cement plates made by Etemit were used. In 2002 the woman became ill as a result o f inhaled fibres and eventually died from mesothelioma. SP Member o f Parliament Krista Van Velzen sees the declaration as confirmation of Etemit's responsibility. "I have for a long time told the Secretary o f State for the Environment that he is in a strong position to begin a general procedure against Etemit. Etemit has up to now lost every single case. What is the Secretary of State waiting for?" In the High Council's declaration it was judged that Etemit knew that there were health dangers connected to working with asbestos and that these risks were also present for people who happened to find themselves in the direct vicinity o f any such work. Moreover, Etemit traded in an illegal and blameworthy fashion, because the firm must be esteemed to have admitted in 1971 that there were health dangers connected to working with asbestos. Related links: Asbestos related articles on this site http://international.sp.nl/bericht/051125-legal_breakthrough_in_asbestos_case.h... 11/29/2005