Fair use, etc http://www.express-news.net/auth/ennews/ap/texas/d0647.html " Associated Press Texas Wire News Lawmakers review asbestos threats Eds: NEW for PMs

AUSTIN (AP) - Gaps in laws intended to protect workers from asbestos exposure will be filled, either through legislation this session or changes in Texas Department of Health practices, according to key legislators.

Almost 90 percent of asbestos removal projects in Central Texas are being performed illegally, exposing thousands of construction workers to dangerous levels of the mineral, according to an Austin American-Statesman analysis of data published this week.

It said workers facing the greatest risk are mostly Hispanic day laborers who unknowingly rip out asbestos materials without respiratory protection. Violation rates the newspaper identified in Houston and Dallas suggest the problem extends statewide.."

-- tex (tex@tex.c0,), January 11, 2001