Quebec Government Approves Expansion of Asbestos Mine
Despite the outcry from Quebec’s scientific and medical leaders, the Quebece government approved the expansion of the Jeffery asbestos mine in Asbestos, Quebec, along with a $7.5 million economic diversification fund for the region. A number of ban asbestos movements and advocates throughout the world, including the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), have been appealing to the Quebec government for years to stop mining and exporting the deadly material –but their protests seem to have been completely igorned when the government was making this decision.
Balcorp Ltd. Has been purchasing chrysotile asbestos from the Jeffery Mine for nearly 15 years. The mine is located in the Quebec town of Asbestos, just 150 kilometers northeast of Montreal. The company is an international trade and marketing firm with offices in Westmount, New Delhi and Mumbai, and sells the asbestos to about a dozen or so cement manufacturers in India.
Asbestos exposure has been linked to horrible asbestos cancers such as mesothelioma. Despite the fact that this has been known by the medical community for decades, the asbestos industry has continued to hide and truth, typically claiming that certain types of asbestos are “safe” or that, under a certain threshold, asbestos exposure is “safe.” But this is all a lie –the industry doesn’t care about public health, only about making money.
While many people think that asbestos is long gone, the material is still not banned in the U.S. And while other countries, such as Canada, have banned the use of asbestos inside its borders, a number of these countries continue to export asbestos to developing countries, such as India, where asbestos regulations are more lax.
Stand up against asbestos use! Check out ADAO’s website to find out how you can get involved.
