BOMB A waste disposal company called ICU is seeking a government license to bury 50,000 cubic yards of asbestos waste in the ground on private land near Huerfano Mountain in northwestern New Mexico, an area held sacred by Navajo people. Changing Woman is an important figure in Navajo creation beliefs. But some people still hold out hope that governments can act to curb the worst excesses of human greed and stupidity. Asbestos is a naturally-occurring mineral that has been mined from the deep earth since the first commercial mine opened in Quebec province in Canada, in 1879. That year 300 tons were produced, but the demand for asbestos grew steadily until production reached four million tons per year by 1970.
Asbestos is composed of long thin fibers and it makes an excellent insulating material.
Most of the millions of tons of asbestos mined from the ground this century have been used to insulate pipes in electric power plants, chemical factories, oil refineries and drill rigs, and in ships. It has also been used extensively in automobile brakes and clutches, and in hundreds of places where its resistance to heat and to chemicals made it highly useful. Unfortunately, asbestos is highly dangerous to animals and humans. When you breathe in an asbestos fiber and it enters the deep part of your lungs, your body reacts to it by forming a lump around the fiber. The lump forms slowly, sometimes taking 10 to 20 years, so you can be exposed to asbestos for a long time before you realize you've got a problem.