1. INTRODUCTION
1.3. The case of Paakkila
Paakkila is nowadays a quiet, small village in eastern Finland and part of municipality of Tuusniemi. However, Paakkila has a colorful history that differs from similar remote villages. This is because it locates in the heart of the asbestos deposit.5 Tuusniemi and especially Paakkila is located in the very heart of the asbestos zone, therefore asbestos has been known in the area for centuries. The area in eastern Finland is well known for its rich natural resources; nearby, approximately 25 km away from Paakkila used to be Outokumpu mine that was in operation nearly for a century from the early years of 1900 until it was shut down in in the late 1980s, and Luikonlahti mine in Kaavi, approximately 24 km away from Paakkila was a copper mine from the late 1960s until early 1980s. The enrichment plant in Luikonlahti is still active because they enrich the ore transported from Polvijärvi mine.
Asbestos can be separated into two main types; amphibole asbestos and serpentine or chrysotile asbestos. Asbestos cement extracted in Paakkila has been made of silicate mineral composition. Asbestos has many beneficial characteristics such as it is fireproof, and it is fibrous. In the construction industry asbestos has been used for wall- and roof sheets and mixed with cellulose in card and fabrics.6
The mining rights of Paakkila and the mining companies changed several times during its history. Suomen Asbesti Oy was founded in 1900 by Johan Fabritius, C. Mechelin, Claes Björnberg, and F.G. Björnberg. Their purpose was not to utilize and enrich the asbestos
5 Pekkinen 2000, p. 54
6 Rissanen 2000, p. 316
deposit by themselves but to rent the mining rights to an external actor and supply unprocessed asbestosis to foreign companies. Eventually, they rented the rights to a Danish company F.L. Smith & Co that was functional until 1910. From that period, the cape is called the ‘Danish cape’. Mine was not in use until 1918, but then a German Becker & Haag company got interested because Germany needed resources after the First World War even though product quality was not high. Suomen Asbesti Oy was incorporated to Suomen Mineraali Oy and enrichment started in 1922 because of the increased competition in the asbestos markets. A setback for the company was the Second World War when the mine had a few workers and production was significantly scaled down. The last owner of mine was Paraisten Kalkkivuori Oy that changed later into Partek Oy when Suomen Mineraali was sold to them in 1959.7
Finland was in the middle of industrialization and it influenced the development of the asbestos mine. For example, the transportation changed from using horses to shipments by sea and building a new railroad and constructing an asbestos processor.8 Mine was an important employer and a center of community. During the active years, asbestos dust was everywhere and hardly no one knew its dangerousness in the 1940s.9 The mine gave livelihood to a significant amount of people in the area in its different duties from mining to farming and mining research in Paakkila just to name a few. During its operational years the number of employees increased from six in 1917 to the peak of 160 employees in the 1950s.
The wellbeing compared with other professions in the area was better due to better salaries and regular pay periods. The company did community charity in the area to help their employees in their daily life and took care of their well-being in their free time. During the operational years of mining the companies took care of the workers. In the beginning they donated plots for houses, helped with the construction of houses, and gave required timber for a lowered prize for houses. Later the company organized trips for example to Koli national park, took employees to cruises, and organized Christmas parties to employees and their families. They also took employees to movies, circuses and borrowed cars for local sports clubs for their trips to competitions.10
7 Pekkinen 2000, p. 56-58, 75
8 Rissanen 2000, p. 319
9 Leppänen 2000, p. 82-83
10 Pekkinen 2000, p. 71-72
Asbestos caused numeral diseases, i.e. asbestosis and lung cancer, in Paakkila for employees and their families, Later, the occupational safety of the mine was improved by installing air conditioning, putting respirators into operation, and installing asbestos extractor for the drilling dust. According to Pekkinen, the fatal dangerousness of asbestos came as a surprise to everyone in the late 1970s, even though employees were aware that dust is not good for health. Even though the community members knew that asbestos is dangerous they were generally against shutting down the mine and factory because it was a question about workplace livelihood. In 1975, Partek Oy closed the asbestos mine, for several reasons. As many other mines, the mine located in a rural area, therefore, the transportation expenses were high. Another increasing expense was that they had to mine deeper and deeper.
Eventually, the dangerousness of asbestos was recognized, and compensatory materials replaced asbestos and weakened the sales of asbestos products. 11
For a 20 to 25 people, Partek offered jobs in a new metal company in Paakkila. However, the company started temporary layoffs soon after founding and was sold to the family of Huhtinen who still nowadays runs the company named Paakkilan Konepaja Oy.12. The rest were offered jobs in company’s other mines and factories across Finland or they retired.
Around 75 people were still without a job after relocation and establishing the metal company but, many of them were retiring because of age or released to a disability pension.13
The health hazard of asbestos was studied already earlier, but at the beginning of the 1970s many studies proofed the connection of cancer, mesothelioma and asbestos. For example, a study by Nurminen designates that the risk of lung cancer among asbestos workers with a minimum of three months of exposure is about 2-3,5 times than expected. He gathered the data for the research by a survey from 1933 to 1966 with total of 1030 workers.14 Based on increasing amount of similar results, the Finnish Council of State gave decision on the control of asbestos and control of the disadvantages caused using asbestos. The only asbestos mine of Finland and the Nordic countries was closed in 1976.15
11 Pekkinen 2000, p. 73-75
12 Pekkinen 2000, p. 75
13 Savon Sanomat 15th of February in 1975: Metalliyritys tulossa Paakkilaan
14 Nurminen 1972, p. 112, 118
15 Nikkarinen et al. 2001, p. 5
For more than 20 years asbestos in Paakkila and the former mine were quiet. However, quiet life was broken in May in 1996 when a bank named Merita organized a forced sale of a cabin that located in the shore of Paakkilanniemi, close to the former asbestos mine. This launched a debate where the focus was on the cleaning of the land under the cabins and polluted mining area that contained asbestos.16 The issue was that Tuusniemi zoned plots on the shore of Paakkilanniemi, where the mine located, but did no research for the land that does it contain asbestos or not. Many of the plots were sold to new owners without them knowing about asbestos, which is why they started to demand the restoration of the land. Nowadays other materials have replaced asbestos products. All that is left of the mine are the workings filled with water, old office buildings, and the factory. The discussion over the dangerousness of asbestos have continued to this day although the mine was shut down a long time ago.17