Mehoopany, Wyoming – The demolition of an old school building in Mehoopany Township, Wyoming, has been halted due to the discovery of asbestos, and some resulting financial problems that might make demolition more expensive than the township can readily afford.

During the demolition project, the building was inspected by state Department of Environmental Protection representatives. As the inspection was carried out, asbestos was discovered in a survey of the old school building.

Luckily, only a small amount of asbestos was found: in some tiles present in the basement of the building. The tiles were quickly removed and safely disposed of, allowing the demolition work to resume.

However, the delay had already lasted an entire month while the state’s hazardous material surveys and tests were being carried out on the old school building.

The township of Mehoopany is now concerned because the contractor hired to carry out the work, Sechrist Contracting of Tunkhannock, wants to charge more for completing the project.

Supervisor Frank Scholz says the extra money is needed because Sechrist had been dumping demolition waste at a location that is not equipped to handle asbestos waste.

Due to the possibility of asbestos contamination, Sechrist must dispose of all debris at an approved landfill in order to obtain a demolition permit.

That means the cost of demolition will increase from $7,000 to $8,000, and the township and the demolition company are now arguing over who should pay the extra money.

Sechrist has asked the town to cover the costs, but Supervisor Frank Scholz and other supervisors believe that “Sechrist has to suck it up and pay the cost.” Scholz says that “If he’d [Sechrist] have gotten a demolition permit right off the bat, he’d have known about the licensed landfill. He’d have known about the asbestos.” The supervisors believe that Sechrist should be held to the original bid of $18,250 that was accepted in December 2007.

The supervisors have allowed Sechrist some extra time to complete the project, because DEP surveying and testing had delayed work on the site for approximately one month. They have agreed to allot an extra month for completing the project, pushing the completion date to the end of July.

However, the dispute over who will pay the extra money for asbestos waste disposal may delay work on the project even further.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 29th, 2008 at 10:00 am and is filed under Asbestos Exposure, Wyoming. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. Responses are currently closed, but you trackback from your own site.