The Johns-Manville Superfund Site is located in Waukegan Illinois and is host to about a million tons of asbestos waste. It’s 150 acres contain about 3 million cubic yards of wastewater sludge and -off-specification materials. Water from the site is released and goes into Lake Michigan where the current transports the asbestos fibers southward thus washing up on beaches along the way.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ran tests in 2002 and found that water coming from the site contaminated the lake with millions of asbestos fibers per liter of water. Lake dredging did not help the situation because it only disturbed the sediment allowing fibers to break loose and wash ashore.
A major concern is the fact that much of the asbestos contamination is tremolite asbestos, which is considered to be several hundred times more hazardous to human health than asbestos fibers commonly found in urban settings. Exposure to tremolite asbestos has been strongly linked to the development of Mesothelioma (http://www.asbestos.com/mesothelioma/) cancer. Mesothelioma is an extremely aggressive cancer that attacks the body’s mesothelial cells, which compose the mesothelium lining that protects organs and body cavities. Very few cases of mesothelioma have ever been cured, putting the mortality rate at nearly 100 percent.
While public officials claim there is no threat to public health, Jeffery Camplin disagrees. Mr. Camplin is an environmental/health safety engineer and nationally known asbestos expert. He was hired by the Illinois Dunesland Preservation Society to review studies done by the EPA, the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and a Chicago Park District contractor. He found those studies to be “deeply flawed and severely lacking in standardized scientific protocols.”
The Illinois Duneland Preservation Society offers some advice as to how to minimize the exposure and inhalation of the asbestos fibers. They warn against shaking off towels and blankets since this can release asbestos fibers into the air, against eating and drinking at contaminated beaches and suggest that beachgoers vigorously clean belongings and shower before leaving.
Concerned beachgoers are likely wondering what, if any, activities are free from the risk of exposure to asbestos at Lake Michigan’s beaches. According to Illinois Dunesland Preservation Society President Paul Kakuris, “Waves wash fibers onto the beaches where sand releases asbestos during beach activities, exposing millions of unwitting victims to deadly asbestos fibers while corrupt public officials and polluters’ consultants rigged studies, using government funds.” Naturally, the society strongly advises against anyone visiting Lake Michigan’s contaminated beaches.
