The Church of Scientology is working overtime to try and cover up their blatant and irresponsible actions of exposing members, including their famous celeb clientele, to blue asbestos for the last 20 years.

The Church owned cruise liner, The Freewinds, is currently dry-docked in Curacao for extensive repair work, which now includes their attempts to remove the dangerous chemical from the ship. It was during scheduled renovation work when local authorities doing inspection of the ship discovered the toxic blue asbestos, which many older ships used as a fire retardant. From an article on Lawyersandsettlements.com:

The Church of Scientology’s members were attending Scientology courses, training services and functions aboard the ship. According to the Daily Herald, a local newspaper, the blue asbestos was released from the ship’s structure during refurbishing and reparatory work.

This is not the first time the MV Freewinds has been investigated for blue asbestos. In 2001, a former Scientology member, architect Lawrence Woodcraft, submitted a sworn affidavit stating that he was exposed to blue asbestos while working on the Freewinds in 1987. As well, a statement from the ship’s captain claimed that there were previous incidents where blue asbestos was released into the ship’s ventilation system. But the Church of Scientology denied Woodcraft’s claim and in so doing, the Church knowingly exposed its passengers and members to this most deadliest form of asbestos for the past 21 years!

The fibers of blue asbestos, like all asbestos fibers, can be inhaled in the lungs where they lie dormant for years until their carcinogenic toxicity begins to cause tumors to grow in the lungs, causing the disease mesothelioma, which is virtually untreatable. The result of this disease is a certain and painful death.

The Church has known about the blue asbestos in an official capacity for at least seven years when architect and former Sea Org member, Lawrence Woodcraft, gave an official affidavit on the matter warning of the dangers. During Mr. Woodcraft’s tenure with the Church he was brought in to help do restoration of the Freewinds and it was during this time he discovered the deadly toxin throughout the ship. Glosslip discussed his concerns during our radio inteview with he and his daughter Astra during our show on Monday. Lawrence was very concerned about his level of exposure to the asbestos and said he was concerned for the many others who’ve been unwittingly exposed for years due to Scientology executive’s negligence and indifference.

Radar Online did a follow-up on their story on this subject, focusing on the Church’s official spokesperson, Karin Pouw, denying any suggested contamination, during which she also stated all scheduled Freewind’s events would be going on as planned (one is set for today). Also of note, is a new story out of the Caribbean stating there are special teams from the U.S., being overseen by local authorities on the matter, who are doing round the clock clean up. From Radar:

A special team from the United States, supervised by an independent bureau from the Netherlands, has arrived on the Caribbean island of Curacao to remove asbestos from Scientology Cruise ship Freewinds, according to Amigoe, the longest running daily paper in the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. The Freewinds is still reportedly sitting high and dry at a Curacao facility owned by docking company CDM.

The company managing the cleanup is Ft. Lauderdale-based “woman owned” AirQuest Inc. A staffer answering phones at the company said the entire staff was on the job and “incommunicado.” Neither CDM’s director, a spokesperson for the company, nor Tico Ras of Curacao’s Environmental Service bureau were available. In the Amigoe article, Ras says the seriousness of the asbestos threat is “a matter of interpretation.” So, for instance, if you breathed in blue asbestos on the ship, you might die. Or you could get lucky, dodge any potentially cancer-causing particles, and live out a life of religious fulfillment.

Freewinds was supposed to give a declaration about its condition last week but didn’t, Amigoe reports. And CDM director Frank Esser tells the paper that the ship has failed to follow rules regarding asbestos handling, assuming past sworn statements by the ship’s architect are true and there is still blue asbestos, the deadliest kind, on board.

At 4 p.m. EST, Radar called and e-mailed a Scientology spokesperson who had previously claimed the boat was completely up to snuff and on schedule for renovations—the Church was advertising a cruise departing May 7 (tomorrow). about the looming asbestos issue at about 4 p.m. EST. We did not immediately hear back.

Class-action suits a term I’ve heard thrown around when talking about the Church of Scientology. The applications are numerous. We’ve already highlighted a long history of physical, mental and psychological abuse against members within the Church, as well as a collusive nature to obstruct the truth, forcibly keep members hostage and imprisoned, and now, we have direct evidence of thousands of adherents to the faith being knowingly exposed to an extremely toxic and banned substance for at least 21 years.

Here is a list of Celeb Scientologists who’ve taken courses on the Freewinds:

* Chick Corea did the Route to Infinity course and OT VIII in the early 90s.
* Lisa Marie Presley did the Whole Track course in 1989 (as Lisa M. Presley Keough).
* Catherine Bell did the Route to Infinity and Ability Congress courses in 1990 and 2000 respectively.
* Kate Ceberano did the Route to Infinity course in 2001.
* Juliette Lewis did the Route to Infinity and State of Man Congress courses in 1999.
* Amanda Ambrose did the Route to Infinity course in 1989.

Here’s a list of Celebs who AREN’T listed, but may very well have been there for other events, as we know Tom Cruise was for his 40th birthday based on numerous news reports and video footage:

* John Travolta
* Tom Cruise
* Kirstie Alley
* Jenna Elfman
* Nancy Cartwright
* Kelly Preston
* Nicole Kidman
* Giovanni Ribisi
* Chaka Khan
* Isaac Hayes
* Karen Black
* Mario Fenninger

It was recommended by an industry insider who’s familiar with lawsuits and mesothelioma, that those who are concerned or exhibiting symptoms (sometimes resembling viral pneumonia, pleural mesothelioma patients may present with shortness of breath, chest pain and/or persistent cough; some patients show no symptoms at all) should see their doctor FIRST, before contacting a lawyer. Hopefully as more light is shed on this story, a better sense of how much exposure people were subjected to will come to light. Worrying about becoming sick is a terrible burden.