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New York - Arthur Kill Powerhouse
History
The Arthur Kill Powerhouse was opened in 1948 on Victory Avenue in Staten Island, New York. It was initially a 25 megawatt unit that provided most of the energy needed in the then least populated borough of New York. The Powerhouse was run by Staten Island Edison, but in 1952 that company merged into Consolidated Edison. The Arthur Kill Powerhouse was now part of the ConEd family. Using oil and natural gas, the powerhouse provided a great deal of electricity.
During the next few decades the island's population rapidly grew, especially after construction of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in 1964, which connected Staten Island to Brooklyn. As a result of the increasing population, the Arthur Kill Powerhouse also expanded, adding Unit 2 in 1959 and Unit 3 in 1969. By the late 1990s, the powerhouse was producing 842 megawatts of power.
In 1997 the New York Public Service Commission approved a restructuring plan with a goal of creating a more competitive wholesale electricity market. In order to comply with this new plan, ConEd sold several of its Greater New York holdings. The Arthur Kill Powerhouse was purchased by NRG Energy. Along with the Powerhouse, NRG bought ConEd's Astoria Gas Turbines in Queens, for a combined price of a little more than $500 million.
Powerhouse Workers at Risk for Asbestos Exposure
The Powerhouse generated an intense amount of heat and needed cheap and efficient insulation throughout the years. Until the mid 1970s, the product that was mainly used was asbestos. Asbestos usage put employees at risk for serious health problems because they were breathing its dust and particles, as discussed below. There were miles of pipes necessary for steam production that were insulated with asbestos, as well as boilers, pumps, heaters, condensers, turbine generators and other equipment that also used asbestos products and insulation. Asbestos tile and paper were also used to create 'fire-proof' environments in the boiler-rooms. Fire-proofing asbestos spray was also applied to certain areas, again creating a hazardous work environment. The boilers that were used were from Babcock-Wilcox, as well as Foster-Wheeler, among others.
The asbestos products would need to be fitted to specific projects due to size limitations. Asbestos paper would need to be cut, and the pipe insulation and filler products often needed to be sanded down depending on the situation. Through these processes, asbestos dust would get into the air. Gaskets were either made with asbestos, or made out of asbestos. Since it is difficult to create a perfect gasket, a worker would have to grind it or sand it down, throwing asbestos dust in the air.
Even if one was not in direct contact with asbestos they were at risk because it was present throughout the facility. As asbestos insulation was applied, maintained and repaired it often put dust particles in the air that could have been inhaled by anyone. The excessive amount of building works, repairs, and maintenance that occurred in the Arthur Kill Powerhouse put every employee at risk, as well as family members who were exposed to the dust on their loved ones clothing.
At Risk for Mesothelioma and Other Asbestos Diseases
By the mid 1970s, strong evidence was uncovered regarding the health dangers associated with prolonged exposure to asbestos. Many who had worked with asbestos for extended periods of time were coming down with pulmonary diseases (such as mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis) from breathing asbestos dust.
The asbestos related diseases include:
- Mesothelioma: a type of cancer only caused by asbestos exposure that attacks the lining around the lungs and/or heart and/or abdomen. This cancer is not in the organs themselves, though untreated it will spread. The most common form is pleural mesothelioma (lung lining), then peritoneal mesothelioma (stomach lining), and then pericardial mesothelioma (heart lining).
- Asbestos Related Lung Cancer: while lung cancer can come from numerous sources, asbestos exposure can lead to the formation of a malignant tumor that blocks the air passages (common for smokers who were exposed to asbestos).
- Asbestosis: a pulmonary condition, only caused by exposure to asbestos, where scar tissue builds up in the lungs causing breathing problems and low blood flow.
The diseases associated with asbestos are similar in that their symptoms often do not appear for many years after exposure. It is not uncommon for someone to develop lung cancer after a 10 year lag between onset and initial exposure. Mesothelioma and asbestosis often do not become apparent for 30 to 40 years after the initial exposure to asbestos. Common symptoms include difficulty breathing, chest pains, a dry hacking cough that sometimes contains blood.
The health problems associated with asbestos were not just isolated to people who worked directly with the product. The asbestos dust would spread easily through the air putting workers who never used it at risk. Family members were also at risk because workers would return home with the dust on their clothes, shoes and even hair.
There are different treatments available for patients suffering asbestos related cancers and diseases. These include, but are not limited to: chemotherapy and certain medications including Lovastatin which can be used as an antineoplastic agent preventing the growth of certain cancerous tumors, and Alimta (also called Pemetrexed) which has been approved by the F.D.A. for treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma.
