Like other urban refugees, Terry Trent and Carol Adams moved to the foothills of El Dorado County for the open space and breathtaking views. But no sooner did the Davis couple erect their hilltop home in Latrobe than they discovered natural asbestos deposits on their 10 acres of rocky chaparral terrain. A construction-cost consultant with a science background, Trent recognized the mineral and its potential to cause cancer the moment his backhoe cut into it nearly 10 years ago. For years after that they didn't give it much thought.
Nobody wants to hear about it.
We had to work our way out of that denial ourselves before we were willing to talk about it. But in the spring of 1996, they felt compelled to speak out. They would dig and blast in the serpentine rock that hosts asbestos, potentially releasing breathable, cancer-causing fibers into the air. Trent and Adams sought a court order to stop the construction. Among their legal arguments was the asbestos threat.