Mission

Asbestos Watch is dedicated to legitimizing asbestos pollution as an environmental and public health issue by reporting on the suffering it has wrought across the nation, and uncovering the corporate and government malfeasance that got us here.

When I first began writing about asbestos in 2005, people who had been directly effected by the issue pointed out one of the fundamental problems that had made it difficult to find good reporting on asbestos, and difficult to solve the asbestos problem. Few reporters stuck with this issue long enough to fully understand the complexities of it.

The fact is, no newspaper wants to become the “Asbestos Daily News,” or “Asbestos Watch” for that matter. While asbestos issues effect many people in the U.S. and around the world, the traditional newspaper format does not allow any single issue to dominate the headlines for years, with one or more reporters completely devoted to the issue.

Ultimately the internet, which has contributed to the downfall of many a great newspaper, seems to be the best format for covering an issue that effects people in widely-separated places, such as Libby, Montana; Eldorado, California; Chicago, Illinois and New York, New York. Here we can create an archive of stories, documents, photos and other information so that anyone can educate themselves about asbestos.

We can connect the far-flung community of asbestos advocates through our forum and comments. We can continue to bring fresh news, and present it in ways not possible through traditional media. Finally, we hope to succeed in showing the world that asbestos is an issue that effects everyone, that it has brought out the best and worst in people, businesses and government, and that by following these issues to their roots, we may all learn something about ourselves.

Paul Peters, April 21, 2009