YORK COUNTY,
MAINE, LAWYER
EPA allocates $600,000 asbestos cleanup grant to Sanford in Maine’s York County, recognized for its high mesothelioma death rate

June 2, 2009 - The town of Sanford, Maine, in York County, last month received a $600,000 federal cleanup grant from the U.S. Environmental Agency (EPA) to remove health-threatening asbestos materials from the community. Asbestos has caused Maine residents to die from mesothelioma in record numbers, according to a mesothelioma lawyer with Weitz & Luxenberg.

Maine’s York County is recognized as the third deadliest county in the state for deaths due to asbestosis and mesothelioma. Some 52 York County residents died from asbestos exposure between 1979 and 2001, according to the EWG Action Fund, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit environmental research group. But that figure may only represent 20 percent of actual fatalities because the government did not begin tracking mesothelioma as a cause of death until 1999, according to the study.

The grant money for Sanford, Maine, is just the beginning of a larger investment in cleaning up the state’s toxic asbestos sites. Maine will eventually receive $6.1 million, to be allocated for cleanups and economic development projects. The Maine EPA asbestos cleanup grants are part of the massive American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that the Obama Administration signed into existence in February.

Maine leads the nation in mesothelioma deaths per capita

Maine has the nation’s highest death rate of asbestos-related mesothelioma per capita, according to NIOSH, a government health organization. Mesothelioma, which is always fatal, is caused by occupational asbestos exposure and is the deadliest of asbestos-related diseases.

York County asbestos-mesothelioma lawyer

Asbestos removal is critically important to all residents of Sanford and York County, as airborne asbestos particles continue to pose a health threat. Once inhaled, asbestos particles become permanently lodged in the lining of internal organs, and can lead to deadly diseases, including lung cancer, asbestosis and mesothelioma.

The personal injury law firm of Weitz & Luxenberg has championed the rights of workers for nearly a quarter century. And in that time the firm's mesothelioma lawyers have obtained more than a billion dollars in verdicts and settlements for clients injured by asbestos.

If you have been diagnosed with an occupational asbestos disease, like asbestosis or mesothelioma, and seek a free consultation about your right to financial compensation, please notify us through the communication form on this page. We will pursue your claim with vigilance. Because we work on a contingency basis, there is no cost to you at all until we win a settlement or verdict.