Wisconsin Poised to Pass ALEC's Deadly Asbestos Bill

[Snarkoleptic]

More WTF news from Wisconsin's Kochtopus coopted government

http://www.prwatch.org/news/2014/03/12424/wi-assembly-takes-alec-led-national-effort-narrow-access-courts-asbestos-victims

Wisconsin could become the latest state to narrow access to the courts for asbestos victims in a bill up for a vote on March 20, joining a national coordinated effort that can be traced back to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Rep. Andre Jacque, a member of the ALEC Civil Justice Task Force, introduced Assembly Bill 19 in April of 2013. A version of the legislation passed the Wisconsin Senate last week on a nearly party line vote, and is now before the Assembly. It resembles the ALEC "Asbestos Claims Transparency Act," which was adopted as a "model" by members of the ALEC Civil Justice Task Force in 2007. In December of 2012, Ohio became the first state to pass the legislation. In the 2013 session, nearly identical legislation has been introduced in Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Illinois and Texas.

The legislation would benefit corporations like Crown Holdings, a Fortune 500 company with over $8 billion in annual sales that has worked with ALEC for years to legislate its way out of compensating asbestos victims, as well as ALEC member Honeywell International, which has faced significant asbestos liability in recent years.

--snip--

When the legislation was introduced in Texas in 2011, ALEC sent a so-called "issue alert" to ALEC legislators in that state urging the bill's passage. Like many ALEC bills, the model language was slightly amended to make it consistent with Texas statutes, but ALEC still acknowledged H.B. 2034 was an ALEC model bill. "This legislation is based on ALEC's Asbestos Claims Transparency Act and would reduce the potential for fraud and gamemanship with respect to asbestos claims. ALEC strongly supports H.B. 2034," the message reads.

Wisconsin's legislation, Assembly Bill 19, even more closely tracks the ALEC model legislation than the Texas bill.When the legislation was introduced in Texas in 2011, ALEC sent a so-called "issue alert" to ALEC legislators in that state urging the bill's passage. Like many ALEC bills, the model language was slightly amended to make it consistent with Texas statutes, but ALEC still acknowledged H.B. 2034 was an ALEC model bill. "This legislation is based on ALEC's Asbestos Claims Transparency Act and would reduce the potential for fraud and gamemanship with respect to asbestos claims. ALEC strongly supports H.B. 2034," the message reads.

Wisconsin's legislation, Assembly Bill 19, even more closely tracks the ALEC model legislation than the Texas bill.

[Enthusiast]

1. Anything for the corporations. I'm sure they will create thousands of jobs to express

their gratitude..............................................in Vietnam and China.



"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power." -- Benito Mussolini

[Snarkoleptic]

2. On further review, I've found that there is an open pit iron ore mining project

that is in the works in Wisconsin. This Gogebic Taconite mine has a high concentration of chrysotile and grunerite, both of which are types of asbestos.
This in mind, I believe that Gov. Walker's corporate masters are trying to immunize themselves against the likelihood of a spike in mesothelioma.

More "screw the workers and environment" in order to enrich the plutocrats...because 'Murica!

Here's some of the info that surfaced back in October...
http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/writers/mike_ivey/asbestos-in-rocks-won-t-stop-northern-wisconsin-mine-gtac/article_81390910-3693-11e3-a54c-001a4bcf887a.html

Despite what one geologist calls an “abundant” quantity of asbestos-like mineral on the site, Gogebic Taconite has no plans to abandon efforts to develop a $1.5 billion open pit iron ore mine in northern Wisconsin.

Bob Seitz, a spokesman for Gogebic Taconite, said Tuesday there are ways to address the release of any asbestos during the mining process, where rocks are crushed and the iron ore extracted with magnets. He says it could as simple as using water to control dust at the site.

“If it’s something we can handle and if we can demonstrate this to the state and federal governments, then we can move ahead,” says Seitz. "We'll continue to do scientific testing as required by law."

A pair of scientists have found at least 100 pounds of asbestiform grunerite in two piles within an old test pit in eastern Ashland County. The discovery is being called a game changer by mine opponents and has brought calls for GTac to stop work on a project supporters say could create hundreds of new jobs and boost the Wisconsin economy.

Grunerite is commonly known as "brown asbestos" and has been linked to lung disease in mine workers, according to a study in Minnesota. Grunerite is also similar to asbestiform particles found in the taconite tailings once dumped into Lake Superior by Reserve Mining, one of the costliest environmental cleanups in U.S. history in the 1970s.

http://wcmcoop.com/2013/10/13/grothman-brings-back-asbestos-bill-just-in-time-for-dnr-revelation/

Bad River Tribal Chair Mike Wiggins Jr. accused GTac of a cover-up, calling their denial of the presence of asbestos “a compelling premeditation for disaster.”

Grothman brought SB13 before the Committee on Judiciary and Labor the day after the story broke. Committee member Sen. Fred Risser (D-Madison) commented that at the time SB13 was introduced in February, it was aimed specifically at victims of asbestos poisoning to prevent them from receiving compensation for their injuries: “It sets up more procedures and makes things more difficult. It’s a terrible bill as it stands.”

Grothman’s amendment, however, would make all personal injury cases subject to the same delays originally intended for asbestos victims. Risser said, “It would change the rules in the middle of the game because it applies to cases that are already in court. That’s one of the real problems of the bill. I can’t believe that we would want to pass a bill that complicates things as much as it will.

pleural-mesotheliomaRisser, the longest-serving legislator in Wisconsin history and longest-serving state legislator in the U.S. (first elected to the Assembly in 1956), introduced his own amendment, which was not adopted by the committee. “My amendment would subject this bill strictly to asbestos cases and would cut out other public injury cases. It would require full disclosure, as well as that the defendant make available certain information that would be made available to all parties throughout the court procedure. And it would not apply to cases already in court.”

A source at the Capitol, who spoke off the record, said that the asbestos lobby has pressured Grothman to bring the bill back. “The asbestos people are very anxious for this to get moving because it will affect the cases that are now pending.”

and...
http://wcmcoop.com/2013/10/06/abundant-asbestos-confirmed-at-gtac-bulk-sampling-site/
Yesterday a group of scientists led by geologist Dr. Tom Fitz and geochemist Dr. Joseph Skulan hiked to Gogebic Taconite’s proposed Bulk Sampling Site 4 to hold a press conference concerning the deadly asbestos present at the site. Several journalists accompanied the scientists who explained that high levels of the dangerous mineral have been found where GTac has applied for a permit to remove thousands of tons of rock.

Fitz, an associate professor of geoscience at Northland College, showed samples of rock from the site that contained the grunerite, one of the deadliest types of asbestos.

According to Skulan, who issued this press release earlier in the day, the DNR collected rock at Bulk Sample Site 4 in the spring which was positively identified as grunerite, and the asbestiform crystal habit was confirmed by a scanning electron microscope (SEM) last week. “DNR hydrologist Larry Lynch sent me both reports,” Skulan confirmed. “The stuff we collected is identical to the DNR sample, and is from the same location.” While the presence of grunerite asbestos at Bulk Sample Site 4 was confirmed by the DNR, the high abundance of asbestos at the site has not previously been reported.Yesterday a group of scientists led by geologist Dr. Tom Fitz and geochemist Dr. Joseph Skulan hiked to Gogebic Taconite’s proposed Bulk Sampling Site 4 to hold a press conference concerning the deadly asbestos present at the site. Several journalists accompanied the scientists who explained that high levels of the dangerous mineral have been found where GTac has applied for a permit to remove thousands of tons of rock.

[hue]

3. Thanks Snark for posting this documentation! Yes G-Tac is aggressively pursuing the Penokee mine.

They have teams of researchers & ALEC legislation doing everything they can to create this huge mine pit in the Penokee Hills. IMHO they are relentless, greedy psychopaths willing to destroy anything & everything for the big $$

There is a contingent of romantic RW'ers who fantasize about going "back to the good 'ol days" when mining enabled them to work together & make a living for their families. Gogebic Taconite uses them as they would use any means to further their intended rape of Wisconsin's ecosystems.

[Snarkoleptic]

5. The OP was a bit odd as a stand-alone, so I had a feeling there was more to it.

As they say "follow the money".

[Enthusiast]

4. Thanks. I had no idea. That explains a lot.