In an effort to spark an economy in slow recovery after the Great Recession, the U.S. Administration has announced a new budget that will significantly decrease funding for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other government agencies.  This budget cut, which cuts the EPA’s budget by 1/3, will reduce critical environmental and occupational health programs like the Chemical Risk Management Program, halt updates to existing protective guidance, and completely eliminate the fibers program activities.

While ADAO understands that everyone needs to cut back to fuel economic recovery, as public health advocates, we are seriously concerned about the negative effects of this budget cut on the health and safety of the American public. Already, more than 10,000 Americans die every year from preventable asbestos-caused diseases.  Driving this staggering number is public, industry, and government ignorance, negligence, and willful violation of human and environmental rights that continue to expose Americans to the deadly asbestos carcinogen. Rather than a concerted effort to ban asbestos in the U.S. and inform the public of its deadly effects, the U.S. imports of asbestos are actually on the rise.  We are bringing in more of the carcinogen while reducing the number of government programs to educate the public, develop and distribute guidance as to how to handle the fiber properly, and enforce existing regulation.  According to the International Social Security Association, in general “the cost beneficial for investments in prevention may be as strong as 1: 2.2, and even higher in some cases.”  That makes it especially hard to explain these budget cuts to exposed Americans who only realize many years later the severity of their exposure – at which point, it is too late.

As the AFL/CIO states, “Four decades ago, Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act, promising every worker the right to a safe job.  Unions and our allies have fought hard to make that promise a reality—winning protections that have made jobs safer, saved hundreds of thousand of lives and prevented millions of workplace injuries and illnesses. But our work is not done.  Many job hazards are unregulated and uncontrolled.  Some employers, like Massey Energy and BP, cut corners and violate the law, putting workers in serious danger and costing lives. Each year thousands of workers are killed and millions more injured or diseased because of their jobs.”

Despite news of these potential cuts, ADAO knows the power of our collective unity and collaboration.  Our friends at the Surgeon General’s Office, NIOSH, and OSHA have done a tremendous job balancing the work that they need to do with limited government resources.  But the burden of public health also falls on NGOs and individuals like us, and we encourage you to join ADAO in its continued efforts to prevent asbestos exposure through education, advocacy, and community support.  Remember and honor those who have been killed or injured in work-related accidents by lighting a candle on Workers’ Memorial Day on April 28, 2012.

In Unity,

Linda

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