Drop Deadly Serpentine—Asbestos Ore—as California's State Rock

Petition and Survey

Sign the petition to show your commitment to health and environment. Please forward the petition to friends and family, too.

Take our survey to test your knowledge about the state rock of California.

Background

In 1965, in order to promote the asbestos industry in California, Governor Edmund Brown and the Senate Assembly unanimously approved AB 265 providing that serpentine become the state rock of California.  Serpentine commonly contains chrysotile asbestos, a carcinogen listed by the EPA and a mineral that has indiscriminately claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people every year in the United States, and hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. Asbestos has been called the worst public health crisis in the history of this country.

Replacing toxic asbestos ore as our state rock with something environmentally friendly and conducive to human health is as crucial as it is easily achievable.

Show Your Support

Read our letter to Governor Swarzenneger.

Send your own letter by printing this sample page and writing in your legislator's name. Don't forget to sign it and include a personal comment before you mail, email, or fax your letter.

Tell the state senate and the state assembly that it’s time to drop serpentine as the state rock of California. Find your representatives and call them to share your story.

PHLBI joins asbestos cancer victims, their families, advocates, doctors, public health groups, and environmental groups in demanding that toxic asbestos ore be removed as the state rock of California.

The Facts

The asbestos public health epidemic has hit Californians especially hard, in part because of the number of shipyards, refineries, manufacturing plants, and former asbestos mines in the state. California has suffered the most asbestos-related deaths of any other state.1 

The state of California leads the nation in asbestosis and mesothelioma deaths.  Beginning in 1979 when asbestos-related deaths were first tracked until the end of 2007, the total number of mesothelioma and asbestosis deaths in California will climb over 7600.2  Staggeringly, Los Angeles County alone leads all of America in deaths from asbestosis and mesothelioma by a wide margin.3  The most recent statistics from 2001 show at least 914 people have died from excruciating, terminal, asbestos-caused cancers.4

California’s state rock symbolizes the public health catastrophe of asbestos that has been experienced nationwide, particularly since the companies that made and sold asbestos-containing products knew of its deadly consequences. Please join us in our refusal to accept the mockery of American men, women, and children dying from asbestos poisoning. We ask you to support legislation to get rid of this pernicious state symbol.

• Timeline of Deception, Disease, and Death Caused by Asbestos
• Serpetine Facts
• Asbestos Industry Supports Serpentine as California's State Rock
• Bill Memorandum Establishing Serpentine as California's State Rock