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Letter to the LA Times

August 02, 2010 by admin

This letter to the editor was published in the LA Times Opinion section on August 2.
Symbolism of the state rock
Re “Don’t fear this rock,” Opinion, July 27
As a native Californian and mesothelioma widow, I find David Ropeik’s Op-Ed to have misrepresented the controversy surrounding SB 624. Delisting serpentine as our official state rock is [...]

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SB 624 is about People

August 01, 2010 by admin

Back in 1965, when asbestos was a profitable industry in California, serpentine, since it was the host rock for asbestos, was designated as the state rock. This was in response to pressure from the asbestos lobby. The designation was intended to call attention to the lucrative asbestos industry. Today, there is no asbestos industry. Asbestos [...]

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The Incontrovertible Facts about SB 624

July 31, 2010 by admin

Much has been said about SB 624, the recent effort to rescind the designation of Serpentine as the California state rock. 
Here are the facts:
According to the AB 265 bill Memorandum dated April 16, 1965, Serpentine was designated as the state rock precisely because of its relationship to the asbestos mining industry in California.  To quote DeWitt Nelson, [...]

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SB 624: California’s Cancer Causing Rock Awareness Legislation

July 14, 2010 by admin

I’m another nerd geologist with 26+ years of experience principally studying the asbestos issue; I’ve published widely and have spoken on this topic extensively in the US and abroad. What is obvious here is that many here do not know is that there are significant portions of CA that have soils that are inundated with [...]

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NY Times “California May Drop Its Official State Rock, and Geologists Feel the Pain”

by admin

The Times is having fun at California’s expense–I get it. 
Having lived on both coasts, I know the joy New Yorkers feel laughing at the west.  Your article focused on the geology of the state rock.  But it ignored the politics.  In 1965, Serpentine was chosen the state rock for one reason, according to the then-Director [...]

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SB 624: California’s Cancer Causing Rock Awareness Legislation

July 13, 2010 by admin

It is amazing how cloudy a simple issue can become when people with different agendas muck up the water.
That’s what’s happening with the effort undertaken by Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), The John McNamara Foundation and the Pacific Heart, Lung and Blood Institute who asked California state legislators to symbolically remove Serpentine, the host rock [...]

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NEWS: EHP, peer-review journal publishes revealing article on asbestos and calls for a global ban

July 01, 2010 by admin

Today, the Environmental Health Perspectives, a peer-review journal published by a division of the National Institute of Health, released the article “A Worn-Out Welcome: Renewed Call for a Global Ban on Asbestos” detailing the effects of asbestos worldwide and reiterating the deadly chrysotile cycle.
The Canadian Medical Association, the Canadian Public Health Association and the National [...]

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Message from TC McNamara in Support of SB 624

June 30, 2010 by admin

My family and I are encouraged to see our Californian State Senate and Assembly Committee on Natural Resources unanimously vote to pass SB 624 for final consideration.  ADAO Press Release.
For the past five years my family has been dedicated to raising awareness about the dangers of asbestos and specifically its affect on my family.
In 2007, [...]

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Global Campaign Against Quebec’s Asbestos Mining

June 28, 2010 by admin

On June 24th, public health advocates in nine countries participated in a global demonstration opposing the Quebec government’s proposed funding of the Jeffrey Asbestos Mine.
Canada already exports more than 200,000 tons of asbestos a year to developing nations, putting thousands of workers and their families at risk. More protests are scheduled for July 1st, Canada [...]

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ADAO Hosts Successful Staffer Briefing

June 18, 2010 by admin

On Tuesday, June 15 in Washington, DC, the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) held a staff briefing for more than 30 House staffers, most of whose bosses sit on the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce.  On April 15, 2010, Rep. Bobby L. Rush, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and [...]

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