It’s Time to Drop California’s

Toxic State Rock

By John M. Caron, Esq.

For over 3 years, a campaign has been waged to remove serpentine, the host rock for asbestos—a known carcinogen responsible for the death of thousands of Americans every year, as the state rock of California.

The campaign recently gained traction when Sen. Gloria Romero introduced Senate Bill 624. The bill was unanimously passed by the Senate and the California Assembly Committee on Natural Resources and is now awaiting an Assembly floor vote which could take place in the coming days.

As SB 624 approaches its final hurdles, there has been a groundswell of opposition to the measure. The opposition originated from a group of geologists who flooded the web with commentary on what they believe are misconceptions about the rock and its importance to California’s history. As more people took notice, criticism was directed at Senator Romero and other lawmakers for wasting time on such a trivial matter while the state is mired in a budgetary crisis.

The current “rock hysteria” threatens to turn SB 624 into political kryptonite in the days before the crucial Assembly floor vote. In order to cut through the hysteria and understand the core objectives of SB 624, it is necessary to briefly recap the 45 year history of California’s ill- conceived state rock.

The History of “Rock”

Prior to 1965, neither California nor any other state had a state rock or a state mineral. State Senator Luther Gibson set out to change this when he introduced Senate Bill 265 providing that gold would become California’s state mineral and serpentine would become California’s state rock. According to the Bill Memorandum:

“Native gold is the mineral that first brought fame—and fortune—to California and gave to this state the designation of the ‘Golden State.’ Serpentine indirectly is of great economic importance to California. It is the host rock for the state’s newest and more rapidly growing mineral industry—asbestos, now bringing in several millions of dollars annually.”

SB 265 was unanimously approved by both the Senate and Assembly and was later signed into law.

In 1965, while the link between asbestos and life-threatening illness, including cancer, had been known by asbestos companies for decades, the information had not been shared with the public—or for that matter, the California legislature. It wasn’t until the early 1970’s that the deadly effects asbestos exposure prompted federal and state governments to take action. In 1971, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued its first asbestos exposure standards. Shortly thereafter in 1973, the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued its own asbestos exposure standards.

Due to the extended latency, or delay between exposure to asbestos and the development of disease, of 15 to 60 years, the public health impact of asbestos exposures during the 1900’s has only now reached its peak.

In the United States, it is estimated that 10,000 Americans die every year from asbestos- related diseases. Due to the number of California’s shipyards, refineries, manufacturing plants, and former asbestos mines, California has suffered the most asbestos-related deaths of any state.

Rock of Ages?

The current opposition to removing serpentine as the state rock began with geologists citing what they believe are misconceptions about serpentine and the important role of serpentine in California’s history. In terms of historical significance, the 1965 legislative notes reveal that, while history had everything to do with gold being adopted as the state mineral, it was the current and future economic impact of the “state’s newest and more rapidly growing mineral industry—asbestos” which caused serpentine to be adopted as the state rock.

In terms of misconceptions, geologists assert that not all serpentine rocks contain asbestos. While this may be true, the 1965 legislative notes reveal that if not for those serpentine rocks which do serve as the “host rock for the state’s newest and more rapidly growing mineral industry—asbestos, now bringing in several millions of dollars annually,” serpentine would have never been up for consideration as the state rock.

Because asbestos served as the basis for adopting serpentine as the state rock in 1965, it is only fair that the impact of asbestos in the years following 1965 serve as the basis for removing serpentine as the state rock. It is simply inequitable, in light of the history of this matter, to suggest that proponents of SB 624 are being overly sensitive or political by raising the public health impact of asbestos as a reason to drop California’s state rock. That stone was cast 45 years ago.

Throwing Rocks at Politicians

Senator Romero and the legislature as a whole have been accused of wasting time and taxpayer dollars on a trivial matter at a time when the state faces a number of real challenges. SB 624 does not embark on the time consuming adventure of attempting to designate a replacement rock. In fact, by repealing the state rock altogether, SB 624 recognizes that the whole notion of a state rock is, in and of itself, trivial.

To this point in the process, very little legislative resources have been expended as SB 624 was unanimously approved by the Senate and then by the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources. It is only now, with attacks on SB 624 not fully accounting for the history of the matter having created “rock hysteria”, that politicians may feel the need to draw out the process.

Rock the Vote!

I urge you to contact your Assembly persons and pass along the history of this situation which has so much relevance to their vote on SB 624. You can be the voice of hundreds of thousands of Californians whose breath has been stolen by asbestos disease.