BLOOMINGTON, Indiana – The demolition of the Coachman Motel may be delayed yet again as city crews have stumbled across an unexpected problem – asbestos between the walls.

Bloomington Planning and Code Enforcement Director Mark Huber said that the city had not yet determined how they would deal with this latest setback. Currently, the city has contracted with a demolition contractor, C & D Recycling, but their bid for the job did not include extensive asbestos removal before demolition begins.

Huber said. “It is premature to say it will come down in a month. We don’t know yet.”

In 1961, when The Coachman was built, it was not uncommon practice to use asbestos in construction, particularly in public buildings. The motel, built primarily of concrete blocks, was insulated with vermiculite, a mineral based material. It was poured into the blocks between the rooms for additional soundproofing.

Vermiculite insulation is notorious for its asbestos content. In some cases, asbestos was added to the vermiculite, but there is also the possibility that asbestos naturally contaminated the asbestos as was the case with vermiculite mined at the W. R. Grace Libby mine. At one point, that Libby mine provided nearly 90% of all vermiculite used in the United States. Grace has faced billions in lawsuits because of their awareness that the mine was contaminated.

The asbestos-laced vermiculite was not discovered during the original asbestos inspection, Huber said. It was only found after the contractors had begun to remove asbestos from the rest of the building. Since it was not part of the original abatement plan filed with the EPA, the city is uncertain whether they’ll be required to file another abatement plan and have it approved.

If the EPA decides that the city must file another abatement plan, it’s unclear how long it will be before the approval is in hand and the contractors can proceed on the asbestos removal.

Tom Kirk, from C & D Recycling, said that they will continue with the original plan while waiting to hear what will be required of them now. In addition, both Huber and Kirk agreed that the cost to the city will very likely increase, as the new work is outside the scope of the work originally on the bid. Kirk’s bid of $187,000 was the lowest bid of three contractors.

The new delay is especially frustrating in the case of the Coachman. The Bloomington City Council approved the demolition bid in January after years of struggling with the owner to force building improvements. The city will pay for the demolition, and place a lien against the property to recover the cost when it is sold.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 25th, 2008 at 5:35 pm and is filed under Asbestos Abatement, Indiana. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.