Douglas Greiner, a construction supervisor from Boise, Idaho, was given six months of home confinement for his role in failing to supervise asbestos removal at a construction site. According to sources, Greiner was responsible for the removal of asbestos from a town called Orofino, and did not dispose of an asbestos-laden pipe as he should have. Along the way to move the pipe to another site, soil at some sixteen different sites was contaminated with asbestos from the asbestos-laden pipe – subjecting others to an asbestos risk and scare. There is a twist in the story, however: Greiner did not give bad instructions, nor did he lead those over whom he was in charge to do something illegal; instead, he was sentenced in court “to ensure that there will not be any leniency when it comes to the safe disposal of toxic and hazardous materials.” Asbestos is a carcinogen, a cancer-causing agent, and consists of small fibers that make their way into someone’s lung by way of t he gener al air flow, or through inhalation of fibers. Once inhaled, these fibers lodge themselves in the throat and travel to the lungs – where they can breed lung cancer some 30 to 40 years down the line. Thus, it is no small thing to fail to supervise asbestos removal. The fact that some 16 other sites were contaminated with asbestos is even more troubling. One of the rules of asbestos removal is to make sure that the risk of exposure to asbestos is minimal. By failing to supervise, Greiner neglected to alert those who removed the asbestos to eliminate the amount of exposure that other citizens could have to the fibers – knowing that the pipe was “laden” with asbestos. If someone has a blood disease of some kind, would you not educate that person to watch out for others and make sure that they don’t cut themselves and pass their blood on to others? If a person has mononucleosis (mono for short), would the doctor not tell the individual and those whom the indiv idual is around mo st to have his or her own individual cups, plates, spoons, and forks – and to see to it that no utensils or cups are shared between them? These are things that you would expect someone to tell sick individuals and those they are around most of the time, in order to prevent further sickness and tragedy. Asbestos Removal Failure to supervise led to the asbestos fibers floating in the air, meaning that others could inhale them and suffer from mesothelioma many years down the road – all because Greiner failed to instruct in the area where it mattered most. That is why the EPA is cracking down on these cases: to send a message that, should one person get mesothelioma, we have all failed to do our jobs – including the EPA.
