As we look forward to a new year of promise and hope, we want to take a moment to thank you for helping us make the most of an incredibly trying year. We are grateful to our ADAO community for making our many successes possible. We eagerly look forward to the new year, as I’m sure all of you do too!
After what I hope was a relaxing winter break for everyone, we are ready to dive back into work, and into 2021. Here’s what’s happening...
Towards the end of 2020, District Court Judge Edward J. Chen decisively ruled that companies are required to report asbestos imports and use under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). This legal victory will help us further our push for a comprehensive ban in Congress in 2021.
Unfortunately, we are incredibly disappointed by EPA’s dangerously narrow and incomplete Final Risk Evaluation for Asbestos, Part 1: Chrysotile Asbestos that was released at the last minute on December 30. The risk evaluation’s multiple holes will ultimately lead to more exposure and more deaths. We are, however, not surprised EPA ignored their own Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) and other independent experts and instead continue to minimize the risk.
As far as the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act (ARBAN), we were unfortunately set back with the coronavirus pandemic, but are looking forward to a new Congress, and are confident we will soon pass this lifesaving bill. ARBAN, the most comprehensive ban bill Congress has ever seen, goes beyond stopping imports and use to a legacy asbestos structural study to mitigate and eliminate exposure.
We would like to invite you to join us again on January 4th, as we light candles in love and support for Mesothelioma Warriors around the world. This year, we will light nearly 1,000 candles in loving memory and support of Warriors.
ADAO is a small nonprofit and relies heavily on the generosity and support of our community. In 2020, we saw hundreds of donationsboth big and small, all of which helped us continue our legislative, legal, and educational efforts. We are indebted to each and every one of our sponsors and donors and look forward to your continued support in 2021. We would also like to announce that we have opened our 2021 sponsorships and are looking forward to united efforts to ban asbestos in the U.S.!
