Moffett Field/ Hangar One dismantled due to PCB, lead and asbestos

The future of Hangar One (located at Moffett Field) is up in the air. Navy vets who have worked there, and those who know of it lament the loss of an iconic monument what man achieved in one century--not only flight, but flight out of our atmosphere and onto the moon. Moffett Field's storied history with both the Navy and NASA is a testament to American aviation and innovation in general.

But the space age materials used to fireproof both the planes and the hangar have begun to contaminate the surrounding area, and it is environmental concerns about asbestos exposure, and exposure to carcinogens lead and PCB (polychlorinated biphenyls). The Navy operated Moffett Field until 1994, and the leaking contaminants (asbestos, lead, PCB and others) were discovered nine years ago.

A Palo Alto Daily News article summed up the site's past and present, both under the stewardship of the U.S. Navy:

The U.S. Navy, which operated Moffett Field until 1994, is responsible for the $22.3 million cleanup of PCBs, lead, asbestos and other contaminants in the 198-foot-tall, 1,133-foot-long hangar. Built in 1932 as an airship station to house the USS Macon, the hangar is so huge that it could cover 10 football fields.

Silicon Valley's KLIV 1590 reported:

The process of removing the toxic siding from Hangar One at Moffett Field has gotten under way.

A Navy contractor will be tearing down laminate siding contaminated with asbestos, PCBs and lead paint in segments. By early next year, the iconic hangar will be a skeleton.The President's budget proposal includes money to restore the hangar, but the nearly $33 million is not guaranteed.Those working to save Hangar One fear the metal skeleton will begin to deteriorate quickly and will be ultimately demolished when it becomes an eyesore.

When asbestos, PCBs and lead are involved, you've got to wonder if how the hangar looks is all that much of an issue. But it is not so much the appearance of Hangar One as what its appearance means to Navy vets and people in the community. 

To see a part of your life torn down--whether or not that part of your life was easy or fun--is a terrible thing. Even a passer-by, someone who had never set foot inside Moffett Field, would notice its gradual stripping down to a skeleton.

But of course, it is only being renovated. True, its purpose has changed since the Navy shut down operations in 1994, but Hangar One is being restored, not razed. Navy Base Closure Manager John Hill said last week that the work is expected to be finished by early next year. After that, its future purpose is iffy:

The future of the hangar rests with NASA and Congress. After years of fighting between NASA Ames and the Navy about who would pay to restore the structure, the White House's Office of Management and Budget determined last March that NASA Ames is responsible for reskinning the hulk. 

Since then, NASA Ames officials have said they are committed to making sure the job gets done. Those efforts reached a turning point in February, when President Barack Obama's proposed 2012 NASA budget included $32.8 million for the hangar's restoration. But that request still must make it through a budget battle in a Republican-dominated Congress that may want to cut NASA's funding.

Myself, I'd like to see the structure used for "development of lighter-than-air ships," as NASA officials proposed, but there are other possibilities in the mix. A  museum run by the Smithsonian is another possibility, according to the Palo Alto Daily News, but as long as Hangar One is functional, why not use it to innovate, like the Navy did before?

And this time around, there'll be no lead, PCBs or asbestos! Innovation doesn't have to come at such a steep price, environmentally.

Last home of Steve McQueen--Marine Veteran who died of mesothelioma--for sale

In a bit of news not directly connected to veterans with mesothelioma, the last home of actor and USMC veteran Steve McQueen, who died of mesothelioma, is now for sale. Fox News' entertainment blog reports that the Santa Paula ranch McQueen moved into in 1979 is on the market. The 15.33 acre ranch's features reflect McQueen's interest in all forms of transportation. A site selling McQueens' ranch, airplane hangar and property says:

McQueen, who became one of the world's highest-paid actors in the 1960s, honed an image of toughness in such noted films as "Bullitt," "The Great Escape," and "The Cincinnati Kid." 

But he started turning down most roles in the 1970s, focusing instead on auto and motorcycle racing and traveling the back roads of the West. He purchased two vintage Stearman biplanes and persuaded a Santa Paula local to become his flight instructor.

McQueen's interests in planes, motorcycles and automobiles provided opportunities for asbestos exposure, but malignant mesothelioma takes years to develop, and McQueen was not able to spend much time racing and flying until the 1970's. It was his exposure to asbestos in the 1950's, while working on pipes as punishment during his time in the Marines. In an interview with The Mirror, a British newspaper, McQueen's widow Barbara talks about her late husband's asbestos exposure:

Medics at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles - "wanting to look under the hood", as Steve put it - found tumors in his right lung. They mentioned mesothelioma and said it was incurable and not treatable. Steve was told he had only months to live.  

He told the doctors he wore asbestos-lined racing suits to ride motorbikes. He remembered joining the Marines at 16, getting drunk and being made to clean asbestos-lined pipes as punishment. He also recalled blowing up a can of beans and being made to strip asbestos lagging from yet more pipes.

"He didn't talk about it much," said Barbara in a recent interview with campaigning Californian lawyer Roger Worthington. "But I have a tape recording in which he was asked just before he died what caused his mesothelioma. 

He said: 'Asbestos'."

Barbara, who lived with the famous actor, motorcyclist and veteran in the Santa Paula ranch, was 27 when her husband died. She gave the interview to show solidarity with the men and women who were exposed to asbestos, and their grieving families:

"Disgusting" is how Barbara describes the firms who knew decades ago that asbestos could cause cancer, yet continued to produce it in vast quantities.

Were it not for Steve McQueen's exposure to asbestos as a young man in the Marine Corps, he might still be alive, flying his plane, driving his cars, or simply enjoying retirement on his Santa Paula ranch. But like many veterans, his asbestos exposure led to mesothelioma, and his life was cut short.

Veterans with Mesothelioma: what the problem is, and what we can do

I drank swamp water with iodine and grape flavored powder, watched the stars come out as we were waist-deep in muddy water, dreamed about having a pair of clean, dry socks—almost as important as clean water when you're on a march. I saw a lot of men die, and I don't particularly want to talk about that. 

I want to talk about what my time in the Marines is doing to me now. Men who worked with asbestos all the time, the guys who fixed the ships, they get the asbestosis. I only was exposed to asbestos once in a while. But that's all it takes to give you mesothelioma, what I have now. I risked my life for this country, I didn't risk it so they could give me cancer forty years later.

It only takes one bullet to kill a man, and it only takes a little bit of asbestos to kill a man (over a long period of time). But the killing takes its time. Everyone who enlists or was drafted for service knows the stakes—or they think they do. They tell you you will risk your life for everyone's freedom and safety, but they don't tell you that risk goes on long after the risk from enemy fire is gone.

You didn't have to be on the front lines for the military to put your life on the line

Whether you were in the line of fire, or fixed ships or planes, you were part of America's first line of defense, and have earned the respect that comes with being a veteran. Asbestos exposure may have been part of your military service, but you were not told about the often lethal effects of asbestos, if you were even told about your exposure to asbestos at all.

The fact that all branches of the military are top-down operations means that the people at the top can get away with a lot, because it is against military culture to openly question orders. Imagine asking a drill sergeant why he wants you to run five miles in the rain, or giving him your opinion on what that would do to your health. There was no room to ask questions about anything, including asbestos.

But you are a veteran now, and your health has been harmed by exposure to asbestos. You have a right to ask questions. Why were you exposed to asbestos? How were you exposed to asbestos? What can you do about, legally and medically?

Short term exposure, long term problems

Asbestos exposure usually takes twenty to forty years to turn into an asbestos-related disease. If you were exposed to asbestos constantly—if you were in construction, or worked at a shipyard, or in a factory that used asbestos products—you were at risk for asbestosis, as well as mesothelioma.

If your exposure to asbestos was short, you probably aren't at risk for asbestosis (asbestosis happens after a lot of asbestos has been inhaled, over a long period of time, and it hardens the lungs), but you are at risk for mesothelioma. 

Your medical options are determined by what stage the cancer is at when the doctors diagnosed it. Your legal options are also related to your diagnosis—the sooner you seek help after your diagnosis, the more your lawyer will be able to do for you.