A Fresno, California hotel stands on the cusp of renovation and complete demolition. The hotel is known to have asbestos materials in its construction. City officials of Fresno have given the owner of the hotel until November 21 to show significant progress in renovating the hotel by removing known asbestos building materials from the site. If the owner fails to show sufficient progress, the hotel will be condemned and torn down.

This extreme example of crackdowns concerning asbestos use and removal follows a trend that finds people increasingly aware of the dangers asbestos has to the healthcare of those exposed to the fibrous mineral. City, state and federal governments are discovering that a failure to act on known asbestos-contaminated structures and areas are a cause for litigation waiting to happen. Staunch and fast action in dealing with asbestos-laden structures in populous areas is a reflection of years of allowing industry to use asbestos in mass quantities while workers who worked directly with the manufacturing process were exposed to asbestos and now are dying from mesothelioma cancers.

In the mid-1970s, the acknowledgement that asbestos was a health hazard was made and a review from the EPA associated inhaled asbestos with illness. At that time, the amount of asbestos that was allowed to be used in general industry was restricted. Unfortunately, the finding came too late for those who had worked in and around asbestos materials and products for most of their lives. Thirty years later, the full extent of being exposed to asbestos fibers is becoming evident to physicians and attorneys as more and more people come forward presenting with symptoms that indicate mesothelioma-related lung cancers, and who nor wish to sue former employment companies for compensation of personal injury claims. And it is still uncertain how many more cases will be diagnosed and filed in the coming years.

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