April 3rd, 2008

A creek in Washington state is still causing problems. The creek contains naturally occurring asbestos, and used to be dredged by the county, but when dangerous levels of asbestos were confirmed, the dredging stopped.

County officials are appealing to the Washington State Legislature, as well as the federal government and the Environmental Protection Agency to help with a creek overflowing with naturally occurring asbestos. The creek runs through a residential area, and used to have the asbestos dredged by the county. When dangerous levels of asbestos were documented, the dredging stopped and no one has commenced with cleaning up the problem. The county turned to the multiple agencies to try and get funding to dredge the creek.

Naturally occurring asbestos is normally not a problem, since it is usually contained underground and does not become exposed to the public. By the asbestos in the creek is floated down from neighboring mountains and comes to rest in the creek exposed. Asbestos exposure has been linked to respiratory problems like emphysema and a type of lung cancer called mesothelioma. Mesothelioma can be deadly, since the cancer can take years to diagnose and is often so far advanced that treatment will not cure the cancer.