Clapper, Patti, Schweizer and Mason

Since 1965, the state rock of California has been serpentine which contains a type of asbestos known as chrysotile. While no longer mined in California, chrysotile asbestos accounts for over 90% of the asbestos used in the United States and worldwide. Due to its fire resistant and rock-like properties, chrysotile asbestos was widely used in thousands of building construction materials, many types of insulation, and in brakes. Lobbyists for asbestos product makers were among those interests who urged the state legislators to name serpentine as California’s state rock in the 1960s.

Now, State Senator Gloria Romero, D-East Los Angeles, has introduced a bill SB624 to remove state rock status from serpentine asbestos because asbestos is a carcinogen that is linked to over 2,500 deaths in the United States annually. The bill’s supporters feel it is inappropriate to “celebrate” a substance that is responsible for California having the highest death rate from mesothelioma (a cancer caused by exposure to asbestos) in the country.

Opposition to the bill has been voiced by geologists and environmental scientists who tout the beneficial qualities of serpentine asbestos which, they claim, if it remains in the ground and undisturbed  presents no health risk. Serpentine is present in 42 out of California’s 58 counties and historically was often found by miners near gold deposits. Serpentine’s chemical composition is necessary for some California native plants to grow and it supports habitat for rare insects like the endangered checkerspot butterfly.

The proposed bill was approved by the State Senate and is now working its way through the Assembly.