Today's mesothelioma story comes to us from across the world.  In Nahariya, Israel, the rate of mesothelioma is 10 times greater than the rest of the country.  An Internal Affairs Committee has met to address the problem, but they are troubled by the lack of concern among higher authorities.

On Monday, the committee gathered to discuss the lack of action taken to combat the asbestos problem in the area.  Head of the committee Ophir Pines-Paz said, "People pay with their lives and the authorities demonstrate intolerable apathy. "  It is estimated that in the Nahariya region, there is between 70 and 150 thousand cubic meters of asbestos scattered in the ground. 

The committee discovered that Israel's Environment Ministry had allotted funds for asbestos clean-up, but none of the money was ever spent and no action was taken towards removing the carcinogen.  A ministry official said that the funds were earmarked for clean-up of three specific sites, two of which were later found to be asbestos-free.  So until those funds are reassigned to clean-up of new locations, Nahariya remains contaminated.

A member of the Internal Affairs Committee guesses that Israeli officials haven't initiated asbestos abatement in the area because of the city's profitability.  "The city council's aim to prevent panic and avoid harming the area's tourism looks like one of the reasons that the subject hasn't received the appropriate emergency treatment," he said.

Pines-Paz posed this question to officials: "Do you sleep well with this at night? Residents pay for this hazard with their lives, and instead of running from minister to minister with budget requests, the city council is busy planting flowers."
 

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A fire destroyed several WWII-era buildings in Arkansas this past January, and recently, the Federal Emergency Management Association has declined to grant the area 'disaster status.'  As a result, the Chafee Crossing residents have been denied federal funds to clean up the debris.  The cleanup, including asbestos abatement, is estimated to cost upwards of $4.6 million.  If the town government is forced to absorb the costs, the local economy is predicted to be handcuffed for several years. 

The Environmental Protection Agency denied the town funds because asbestos tests did not show a significant level of pollution.  However, tests performed by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality found asbestos contamination in some areas to be much higher than EPA estimates, qualifying the area for federal subsidization.  Because of the buildings' age, it is estimated that every structure contained at least some asbestos.

The Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Commission has indicated that the EPA plans to return in 30 days for further testing, though experts say an appeal of the ruling is unlikely because of the complicated terms for qualifying for the federal funds. At the moment however, the asbestos remains highly concentrated in some areas and cleanup efforts are not being addressed because of a tangled web of bureaucratic mandates.