Mesothelioma

Ball said even with the increased overall cancer rate, it is not clear that the plants are at fault.

For instance, researchers had no information about how many of the area's residents smoked cigarettes, which is another key risk factor for lung cancer.

Another big gap in the data is that they don't include the people most likely to have suffered the worst exposure: the workers.

Neither the EPA nor state health officials could find pay stubs or employee logs from the two plants that would have allowed them to track down people who worked there during 46 years of operation.

Draper resident Ralph Blevins took a $1.95-an-hour job at the Utah Lumber plant for about six months 45 years ago.

He has asbestosis, an incurable lung disease unique to asbestos exposure that hardens the lung and often makes breathing excruciating.

He was happy to hear about the study and the proposed outreach program.

"We've got to warn people about it," he said.

The environment agencies want to hear from other former employees and people who may have taken waste dust from the plant to use for improving their garden soil.

(Contact Judy Fahys at fahys(at)sltrib.com.) » email this page technorati Post new comment Your name: E...

Read more...