What does it mean to have silicosis? It means a person cannot breath.
Breathing in silica dust (click here) causes silicosis by damaging an area of the lungs called the air sac. The presence of silica dust in the air sac of the lungs causes a body defense reaction that results in the formation of scar tissue in the lungs. This scar tissue can limit the ability of the lungs to stretch, thereby limiting the amount of air that can be breathed in.
What do workers do when they are diagnosed with Silicosis? They sue.
The lawyers at Heygood, Orr & Pearson (click here) are announcing the launch of the law firm's new fracking injury and information website Silicosis Fracking Lawsuits (http://www.silicosisfrackinglawsuits.com/). Hydraulic fracturing—or "fracking"—has been linked to an increased risk of silicosis and other respiratory diseases among oil and natural gas workers and those who live near fracking sites.
The silicon dust doesn't end at the fracking operations. Which means workers can carry the dust home on their clothes, to be breathed by family members, including children. It means silicon dust is everywhere trucks that carry it out of the fields run and park.
Increased silicosis in the USA increases those on disability. They are due disability when their ability to breath begins to fail. They don't have to be cigarette smokers to have this occur. One might remember the battles with Johns Manville over asbestosis. Same thing. Same exact thing. This stuff is even worse if the truth is to be known. At least asbestos was fibrous and not a rock.
PHOTO: A worker stands on top of a storage bin at a drilling operation. The dust is from silica powder (to be) mixed with water for hydraulic fracturing.(click here)
June 19, 2013
...A lot of the brand new oil rigs (click here) are visible from Interstate 94
approaching and departing Dickinson, as are the new dirt (red clay)
roads leading one’s eye to the distant hills and unseen drilling.
However, it is in the city of Dickinson that I was totally entranced.
The scene reminded me of photographs, news stories, movies, magazine
articles, etc., of the old gold rush days and the first oil boom several
generations ago. Parking lots full of dusty, dirty, pickup trucks (all
brand new, of course), semi-loads of equipment awaiting off-loading,
restaurants overflowing with construction workers, hotels and motels and
boarding houses going up everywhere I looked!Right there, in the midst of it all, with a very high profile, is Halliburton! I love it! Despite the hatchet job the “save the planet” bunch tried on Halliburton and Dick Cheney, there Halliburton is; high, wide and handsome!
Leaving Dickinson, I couldn’t help but smile, knowing that big bad Halliburton and the Cheney family (and the Bush family?) are making a ton of money, every day, from North Dakota shale.
Christopher Schutz, Pardeeville
