Freewinds Asbestos Press Release

tl;dr Press Release

Originally Posted by exOT8Michael

tl;dr Press Release

It's 647 words, Michael. Does Scientology affect one's attention span?

Originally Posted by CVAnonymous

It's 647 words, Michael. Does Scientology affect one's attention span?

OMG attention span sounds like a psychology term! aAAaaaaaargh!!

Love it, CVA! You're fantastic.

Would it be appropriate to have a brief, sensationalists summary at the top to grab the attention of the reader? What we have is very thorough, step-by-step stuff. I don't work with press releases professionally, so please tell me if that's a bad idea.

And would it be wise to have citations with external links in plaintext below? That's how we've done them in the past, but I don't actually know what editors would prefer.

I already posted it to i-reports, but something about "Thousands Exposed to Asbestos; Scientology Officials Knew!" would be lulzy.

Editors just want somthing they can publish. Footnotes belong in class, lol. If anyone wants/needs confirmation of a fact, they contact the writer.

I-Report link: Scientology Yacht Sealed and Docked in Curacao - iReport.com

That's cool.

I still wanna polish it a little for the 'press room' page. You mention 'the carcinogen' in the first paragraph, but don't mention asbestos by name until the middle of the second paragraph.

Would it be out of line to put an intro paragraph like
"Allegations are flying that the Church of Scientology may have knowingly exposed thousands of people to asbestos, a known carcinogen, over the past 21 years."
?

A one-line summary of what the press release says, basically. I just don't wanna say it in a way that would appear libelous.

Aaarrgh - I thought I said "the carcinogen asbestos". Rats.

"Allegations are flying that the Church of Scientology may have knowingly exposed thousands of people to asbestos, a known carcinogen, over the past 21 years."

That's good. Editing it in.

Uuh ... Abestos in only dangerous, when it's dust is flying around ... so basicly, only when people build stuff with it or tear it down.
Once it's solid (and/or covered by sth), there's no risk from it anymore (which btw can easily be avoided by wearing a mask anyhow), which is why I think this thread and news is fail. It's all about sensationalism right now, amirite?

That's not how the authorities see it, because as long as it's there, there's a risk of it being compromised and released on some scale. Did you actually read the news? Some of the dust got into the AIR CON ffs.

Freewinds sealed and blue asbestos confirmed

Originally Posted by Kluu

Uuh ... Abestos in only dangerous, when it's dust is flying around ... so basicly, only when people build stuff with it or tear it down.
Once it's solid (and/or covered by sth), there's no risk from it anymore (which btw can easily be avoided by wearing a mask anyhow), which is why I think this thread and news is fail. It's all about sensationalism right now, amirite?

Did you even read the article? "During refurbishing and reparatory work, which involved removing the ceiling and panelling on cruise ship Freewinds, blue asbestos was released and ended up in the ventilation system " - First sentence of the newspapr article. Which means it was released. Into the ventilation system. And the staff wasn't told. And they covered up the fact that the asbestos had been released.

Sensationalism? Umm...no.

Ok, here's my effort. Based on CV's

_____________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:


SCIENTOLOGY'S CRUISE SHIP SEALED DUE TO ASBESTOS DANGER

According to The Daily Herald of Philipsburg, St. Maarten, officials in Curacao have sealed and cordoned off the Freewinds, Scientology's flag ship, after dock workers found dangerous levels of blue asbestos during routine repairs.

Curacao Dry dock Company (CDM) workers discovered the blue asbestos during routine repair and renovation work while the ship was in dry dock in Otrobanda, Curacao. After an extraordinary meeting, alarmed Government officials ordered the ship sealed off and decided to inform the public of their actions in order to avoid rumour and panic among dock workers.

Reportedly, the 40 year old ship is extensively contaminated with blue asbestos, the most dangerous form of the carcinogenic mineral. Studies have shown that there are no safe levels of exposure to asbestos and a single microscopic particle could remain lodged in the lungs for years and in the right conditions, cause lung cancer. Decontamination, if it is even possible, is likely to cost tens of millions of dollars and would result in the ship being in dry dock for many months.

Alarm was raised amongst Government officials after it was revealed that the captain of the Freewinds took no action to alert the crew after CDM workers accidentally released the asbestos dust into the ventilation system. Despite being informed of the accident, and the danger, the captain chose to keep the incident secret.

Members of the public have noted with concern that the Church of Scientology appears to have been aware of the asbestos problem for 21 years and has chosen not to address it, despite being informed of the health risks. In a 2001 affidavit Freewinds' architect Lawrence Woodcraft states that after the purchase of the Freewinds in 1987 he went aboard to supervise the renovation and refitting of the old cruise liner. During the renovations blue asbestos was discovered in the engine room and then throughout the ship. He immediately informed senior Scientology management of the discovery and of its health risk to passengers and the ships Scientologist refit workers. Scientology chose to take no action, stating that since L Ron Hubbard, Scientology's founder, had never said that asbestos was dangerous there was no risk.

Woodcraft reported that as the renovations fell behind schedule an independent non-Scientologist company was brought in to assist, but left in fear for the safety of the refurbishment crew after a few weeks. Renovations continued regardless, this time with dozens of contracted Scientologists protected only by dust masks.

Since 1987 thousands of passengers have travelled on the Freewinds, both for Scientology's advanced courses as well as for conferences and other events. Many, if not all passengers and crew may have been exposed to asbestos dust churned up by the movement of the ship and standard maintenance work. Medical advice for dealing with asbestos recommends ongoing monitoring for lung cancer is required for anyone who believes they may have been exposed to the carcinogen.

The Daily Herald, Philipsburg, St. Maarten: St. Maarten News - The Daily Herald Newspaper Online | St. Maarten-St. Martin | West Indies - Caribbean News
Woodcraft affidavit: Lawrence Woodcraft Affidavit about Asbestos on the Freewinds - January 24, 2001
Asbestos and Mesothelioma, effect on health: Abestos and Mesothelioma: Asbestos' Effects on Health

Originally Posted by Kluu

Once it's solid (and/or covered by sth), there's no risk from it anymore (which btw can easily be avoided by wearing a mask anyhow), which is why I think this thread and news is fail. It's all about sensationalism right now, amirite?

it got into the ventilation system. which, from my admittedly non-expert POV, sounds like all kinds of bad.

also, environmental health laws.

Oh yeah.... The EPA and NOAA would probably be verrrrrrrry interested.

Originally Posted by AnonKiwi

Good press release

I like AnonKiwi's version. It reads well. In the last paragraph though, I think the phrase 'likely exposed to' is too strong a claim. May/potentially I think are more appropriate.

^ thanks. Have edited to 'may' as suggested.

Anyone got the name, loc and possibly a link to the original paper? I couldn't work it out. And any scanned image of the page itself would be awesome.

Excellent job on the press release. Remember to put the most important facts and data in the first paragraph (that is the attention getter). I had written way too many press releases years ago. Plus add ### at the very bottom which also signifies immediate release (I don't know if it is an inside thing-but that is what I used to do).

Found some other great resources on asbestos dangers--not only lu