November 9th, 2004

Internal documents released earlier this year by the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice revealed that the Environmental Protection Agency were planning to allow the demolition of a derelict building in Fort Worth, using methods that were not in line with the Clean Air Act.

The groups that released the documents have expressed their concerns over the effects that the removal and demolitions of the building could have on the local residents and surrounding community. The worry stems around the risk of asbestos contamination, as this could potentially result in a deadly cancer known as mesothelioma, which can take decades to be detected and can then kill sufferers in a matter of months.

Dr. Jennifer Sass, a senior scientist at NRDC, stated: "EPA's approval of this method is tantamount to approving an illegal experiment on human beings. It likely would expose workers on the site and residents in surrounding neighborhoods to high levels of a known carcinogen - without their full knowledge or consent."

The proposed method for the demolition was condemned by experts, support groups, even scientists and other hgih profile staff at the Environmental Protection Agency itslelf.