California Residents Forced to Move Out Due to Asbestos
Families living in the Americana apartment complex in Mountain View, California, spent their Independence Day Weekend moving out of their apartments. Residents were asked to move out in order to keep deadly asbestos dust from coating their belongings during work on the roof of the complex. Prometheus Real Estate Group plans to install new roofs on five of the Americana’s 22 apartment buildings over the course of the summer. Each building’s roof project will take three weeks to complete.
The buildings were all built during the 1970s, and have fire-retardant “popcorn” ceilings which contain asbestos. The asbestos had begun to come loose from the popcorn ceilings during previous work on the roofs conducted in 2007.
Asbestos, a toxic material with a natural resistance to damage from heat and chemicals, can be deadly. Asbestos fibers are known to contribute to the development of medical conditions ranging from lung cancer to asbestosis to mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a deadly form of cancer that can occur in the mesothelium, or lining, of the heart (pericardium), abdomen (peritoneum) or lungs (pleural), but the most commonly-diagnosed form is pleural mesothelioma. About 2,500 new cases of mesothelioma will be reported this year, and the majority of sufferers will lose their battle with this disease in less than two years following initial diagnosis.
While there is no cure for mesothelioma, or any asbestos-caused illness, palliative mesothelioma treatment methods, including the combination of chemo drugs Alimta and Cisplatin, are effective in controlling a patient’s pain and symptoms.
Work on the first building in the Americana apartment complex was scheduled to begin yesterday. However, due to the fact that temporary housing only recently became available, many residents were forced to spend their Fourth of July weekend moving all of their belongings out of their apartments. Because the apartment owners were sued over asbestos exposure after the roof work in 2007, this time around they are being extremely cautious. Prometheus has promised to cover belongings left behind in the apartments to protect them from asbestos dust.
Residents also have the option of terminating their lease early. Still, many residents were extremely upset that they were forced to spend the long weekend moving out of their home. Some residents feel that they were not given ample warning. “They are asking us to move our lives over” in one weekend, said one resident, who wished to remain anonymous. “But they’ve been planning this for months.”
Asbestos abatement is required by law prior to conducting renovations.