Surviving New Yorkers have finally won an eleven-year battle with the federal government following a ruling to cover a range of cancers, including mesothelioma, under a compensation Act designed for victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

When the twin towers collapsed after two planes were hijacked and flown into them, a giant toxic cloud of dust was released into the air and covered parts of Manhattan for weeks. The dust contained chemicals such as lead and asbestos, the known carcinogen that causes asbestos related diseases such as asbestosis, asbestos related pleural disease, pleural plaques, pleural thickening, asbestos pleuritis and the cancer mesothelioma.

As a result, many workers at ground zero and also local residents were exposed to the asbestos dust, with 20,000 residents currently receiving medical treatment and 40,000 being monitored by medical authorities for resulting conditions such as mesothelioma.

The new regime, announced a day before the 11th anniversary of the attacks, will recognize the cancer mesothelioma and approximately 50 other cancers as being eligible for compensation from a $2.8 billion fund that was approved in 2010.

However, the ruling is only bittersweet, as because of the long latency period between exposure to asbestos and the development of an asbestos related disease such as mesothelioma, the compensation fund may run out before many mesothelioma compensation claims are filed. Australia knows only too well the pain of New Yorkers who have been exposed to asbestos given so many Australians have suffered asbestos conditions such as mesothelioma.

1,200 guests will attend the 4th Biaggio Signorelli Foundation Gala Dinner this evening, Wednesday 26 September 2012, at Darling Island Wharf Pyrmont in Sydney. The Gala dinner is hosted by Sydney’s award winning Doltone House to raise funds and awareness for the asbestos cancer of mesothelioma.

The Biaggio Signorelli foundation’s main aims are to raise awareness, early detection, treatment and a cure for the deadly cancer of mesothelioma which is caused by exposure to asbestos. The foundation was foundered by the Signorelli family to honour their father, the founder of the Doltone House Group, who sadly passed away in May 2008 from mesothelioma.

The foundation has been hugely successful by raising almost $1m and also providing funding of $300,000 to three different research fellowships over three years. One of the research fellowships funded was one that took place at the Asbestos Diseases Research Institute in Concord, Sydney. To add to these key achievements, the foundation also donated $125,000 to go towards the development of the National Guidelines for Diagnosis and Treatment of Mesothelioma.

Support like that provided by the Biaggio Signorelli Foundation to help win the fight against mesothelioma in Australia is extremely necessary and important. In 2010 mesothelioma claimed the lives of 642 people and the number of deaths caused by this fatal cancer is expected to rise. Thus a lot of help is needed in Australia’s attempt to put an end to the heartbreaking disease of mesothelioma.

Asbestos handling concerns have been raised in relation to a hotel redevelopment site in the Canberra suburb of Braddon. These concerns have seen the construction union, the CFMEU, call for the site to be closed. The CFMEU has confirmed that asbestos at the site was not being removed or disposed of correctly and workers were not wearing the necessary protective gear or being correctly decontaminated after finishing work on the site.

Despite these concerns Work Safe ACT has decided to allow work to continue on the site. Mark McCabe, Work Safety Commissioner, has said that inspectors who visited the site are satisfied the union’s concerns have been dealt with by the employer. The concerns have been taken very seriously as asbestos exposure can lead to workers being exposed to asbestos which can cause serious diseases such as asbestosis, asbestos related pleural disease and mesothelioma.

The company responsible for asbestos removal at the construction site has been referred to the ACT Planning and Land Authority (ACTPLA) who issue asbestos removal licenses. ACTPLA will decide if action needs to be taken against the removal company such as a withdrawal or suspension of their license.

The incorrect removal and disposal of asbestos at this construction site does not only put workers at risk but also the public. The area is one of very high traffic; there are a lot of people walking past all day and this puts them in at a risk of being exposed to asbestos fibres. Thus resolving the concerns that have been recognized are extremely important to reduce the risk of both workers and the public contracting asbestos related disease like asbestosis and mesothelioma.

Asbestos compensation claims in Canberra have been made in the past by building workers who have been exposed to asbestos. ACT asbestos claims, including ACT mesothelioma claims, have involved building workers exposed to asbestos on Canberra building sites.

Last month, Australians were shocked to discover that asbestos products were used in the construction of two roads at Robertson, NSW, a town 100km southwest of Sydney. The roads were built only four years ago, despite the fact the use of asbestos has been banned in Australia since 2004 due to the causal links between asbestos and diseases such as asbestosis and mesothelioma, a rare cancer.

Last week, however, Australian residents from the NSW town of Wingello had their shock and outraged renewed amid claims that their local council had failed to inform them of the fact that several more roads in the area had been built using the same asbestos materials.

The Australian reported yesterday that an elderly resident living in the NSW town recognized similarities between materials used in the construction of her street and photographs from a news report about the asbestos found in the Robertson streets. It was only after contacting council that it was confirmed that her street was in the middle of an asbestos investigation. But a guarantee of proper asbestos testing was not confirmed until a call was made to the Mayor.

It was reported that residents were concerned for their health, as the road was cracked and the resulting dust blows straight into their homes, meaning that they may be at risk of asbestos exposure.

The council is currently conducting asbestos testing to determine whether the contaminated roads have to be sealed to protect the public from asbestos exposure.

Australia has a very high incidence of mesothelioma on a per capita basis as compared to world standards