Archive for the ‘Arkansas’ Category

Bentonville, Arkansas – State environmental officials have decided that Benton County will not be formally cited for illegally demolishing a barn and moving the waste to a new site before burning it.

Spokesperson Doug Szenher said “we encounter violations every day of the week, but it doesn’t necessarily mean we’re going to proceed with enforcement action for every instance.” Benton County Judge Gary Black declined to comment on the state’s decision.

The environmental agency investigated the issue after local news team The Morning News began to look at how Benton County was disposing of its construction waste. According to residents living on North Big Springs Road, the county made a habit of dumping and burning waste at a site located on the road.

In July 2007, the county road department demolished an old barn, but did not do so via the state’s asbestos program. Following the demolition the waste was hauled to the North Big Springs Road site, where it was burned. Environmental officials say that the entire procedure violates state environmental laws.

Judge Black said in October 2007 that he had no knowledge of the incident. Former assistant Travis Harp said that the county had cleaned the site, and all debris was taken to a nearby landfill.

In fact, the debris was dumped in a ravine on a property owned by road department employee Jack Garrett.

State Inspector Doug Corter, employed in the agency’s asbestos and lead branch, began investigating the incident in early November and spoke to Judge Black, who again said that the waste had been taken to a landfill. Black later admitted it had been buried on private property. The private disposal site was cleaned up the same week.

Following the incident, a road department superintendent was verbally reprimanded over the incident. This was in fact the sole extent of any reprimands issued to department employees. A warning letter was also sent to Black confirming that the department had violated environmental laws.

Road department employees attended an educational seminar at the end of November after county employees admitted they did not know that any state regulations existed. Benton County is now ‘on record’ as having employees that know what regulations are in place.

Spokesman Doug Szenher said that a record was made that will be “taken into consideration if there are further problems.”

The stage agency could have imposed a fine of $10,000 per violation day, but chose not to because asbestos was “probably” not in the barn, and burning the debris “probably” did not pose a long-term environmental hazard.

March 21, 2008, Fort Chaffee, Arkansas - The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has declined to declare a fire-ravaged site as a disaster area and provide funding for clean-up, even though the site is contaminated by asbestos.

Following a fire that devastated the area on January 29, 2008, the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority applied to FEMA to have the side declared a federal disaster area. The fire burned over more than one hundred acres, and destroyed over 150 WWII-era buildings. Asbestos present on the site was also exposed, and now that asbestos needs to be cleaned up.

The problem is that the cost of clean-up is estimated at $4.6 million, and for local residents that’s just too much. Officials say that having to foot the bill for cleaning up the asbestos will cripple the local economy for years to come.

However, FEMA says the site doesn’t qualify as a disaster, and has refused to provide funding for clean-up.

The refusal was made despite the fact that the site is contaminated with asbestos at levels that might be dangerous to citizens who nearby.

The EPA says they tested the site and found that asbestos levels were too low to allow the site to qualify for funding from the EPA Superfund. Air tests performed by Environmental Enterprise Group of Russelville found airborne asbestos levels were less than 0.002 fibers per cubic centimeter, which is well under the level considered safe by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

However, when the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality tested the site they found much higher levels of contamination. ADEQ testing measured asbestos contamination at up to 65%. The Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Commission says the EPA will return in thirty days to re-test the site.

Meanwhile, town officials plan to appeal the FEMA decision, but that isn’t going to be easy either.

However, David Maxwell of the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management has said that the group’s chances of a successful appeal were very slim, because the site doesn’t meet FEMA guidelines. In addition, experts say that a successful appeal of the FEMA decision is unlikely due to the complexity of the conditions that allow sites to qualify for federal funding.

The biggest problem is that clean-up hasn’t yet started, and bureaucratic issues are preventing it from happening. While the various groups have discussed who should pay for the asbestos clean-up, recent heavy rains may have already made a bad situation worse by spreading the contamination even further via runoff of site debris.

March 21, 2008, Madison County, Illinois – Over the past few years, asbestos cases had dropped off in Madison County. This week, however, that all changed, as twenty asbestos-related lawsuits were filed between March 13 and March 18.

That’s a total of 1,036 summonses being sent to defendants in the suits, and a total of $129,997 in fees paid to the Madison County Circuit Clerk’s Office.

March 13

* Marcella Walters (Nebraska) was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2007 and claims she was exposed to asbestos between 1946 and 1977 while working as a secretary. She also claims she received secondary exposure from her husband’s work clothes.

* The estate of Mary Hazelrigg (Indiana) claims she was exposed during the 1970s while working as a welder’s assistant, and via secondary exposure from her ex-husband’s clothing. She died in April 2007 after being diagnosed with mesothelioma in October 2006.

* Darrel Henderson (Kansas) claims he has lung cancer that developed as a result of asbestos exposure during his service in the US Navy. He was diagnosed in 2007.

* The estate of Nancy Foster claims her lung cancer developed following asbestos exposure during the 1960s and 1970s while working as a laborer and housekeeper.

* Edward Kronsperger, diagnosed with mesothelioma in January 2008, claims he developed the disease as a result of asbestos exposure while in service to the US Navy.

* The estate of James Price (Tennessee) claims he developed lung cancer as a result of asbestos exposure while working for Texaco, Shell Oil, Amoco, Anheuser-Busch, Chrysler and American Zinc between 1964 and 1993.

March 14

* William Yeager (Missouri) claims his mesothelioma developed following asbestos exposure during his career as a boilermaker.

* Forrest Bateman (Idaho) developed mesothelioma, allegedly following work as a dairy farmer, machinist, and x-ray technician, between 1949 and 1990. He also claims to have suffered secondary exposure from his wife’s work clothes.

* Nina Anderson (Illinois) claims her mesothelioma developed from a mixture of occupational and secondary asbestos exposure from her husband’s work clothes.

* The Estate of Daniel Malcolm claims he died of mesothelioma caused by asbestos exposure that occurred during his career as a teacher and foundry-worker.

March 17

* Larry Marlow (Texas) was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2007, following a 41 year career working as a laborer.

* The estate of Doyle Clayton claims his mesothelioma developed after working as a machinist between 1956 and 1990.

* The estate of Lois Nisi claims her mesothelioma developed as a result of asbestos exposure that occurred during her 48-year machinist career.

* Gloria LaBargage (California) claims she developed mesothelioma as a result of asbestos exposure that occurred after 1968.

* Roy Brown (Indiana), diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2007, claims his disease results from asbestos exposure during his work as a laborer between 1972 and 1974.

March 18

* John Barringer (Pennsylvania) was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2007 and claims it’s the result of exposure that may have occurred while in service to the US Navy or during his time as a computer manager in Pennsylvania.

* Dolores Joppa (Arkansas) claims her mesothelioma is the result of both primary and secondary asbestos exposure.

* The estate of Frederick Shuberg claims he died from mesothelioma as a result of asbestos exposure that occurred from 1964 during the deceased’s work as a technician.

* Lawrence Schmidt claims his colon cancer developed as a result working with asbestos during his work as a painter.

* The estate of Charles Lampin, Sr. claims his esophageal cancer occurred as a result of asbestos exposure.

FORT CHAFFEE, Arkansas – Sebastian County officials now say that the cost of cleaning up the asbestos-contaminated debris from the fire that leveled the old Army barracks at Fort Chaffee and Fort Smith will probably cost far more than the $4 million originally estimated. Residents in the area are not in danger from the asbestos, however.

Late last month, a brush fire aided by high winds became a conflagration that destroyed about 150 structures at the abandoned Army installation, most of them unused barracks that the housing authority had been planning to demolish. Many of the buildings were known to be heavily contaminated with asbestos.

The barracks were built shortly after World War II when construction materials containing asbestos were widely used, and when many military construction contracts specified the use of materials that contained asbestos. Asbestos was viewed as safe at the time, and offered many advantages in construction. Since then, it has become public knowledge that asbestos fibers cause serious and debilitating illnesses when inhaled. The illnesses associated with asbestos include lung cancer and other cancers, asbestosis and mesothelioma, a rare cancer that is only found in those with a history of asbestos exposure.

The debris from last month’s fire is heavily contaminated with asbestos, according to tests carried out by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality. Those tests found concentrations of asbestos in debris and ash gathered at the site ranging from 1 percent to 3 percent. Sebastian County’s Office of Emergency Management said that any concentration of more than 1 percent asbestos is considered contaminated. Asbestos-contaminated materials must be handled with special cautions to avoid asbestos fibers becoming airborne and presenting a health hazard to workers and the community.

The emergency management office also revealed the results of air quality tests carried out Saturday by Environmental Enterprise Group, Inc. at the 100 acre site. Those tests revealed airborne asbestos levels of less than .002 fibers per cubic centimeter, a level that is well below acceptable workplace levels of asbestos set out by OSHA.

Based on the results of those air monitoring tests and expert opinions from the Arkansas Department of Health, Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and from EEG, Inc. the county believes that citizens who in the facilities around the debris site and residents of the air are safe.

However, Tonya Roberts from the Arkansas DEQ advises that people should stay away from the site because of ground contamination. While levels of airborne asbestos are within safety levels, activity on the site could stir up ground contamination and increase the amount of asbestos in the air.

The county has fenced off the air and has patrols on the property, but people are still being spotted on the site taking pictures and walking around the area.

Police warned that asbestos is not the only danger on the site. Because many of the chimneys remain standing after the fire, there is also the danger of injury from toppling structures and falling debris.
0fficials will share the figures from their research with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to determine whether disaster funds will be available to help with the cleanup of the hazardous wastes. Originally, county officials had speculated that cleanup could cost about $4 million. Now they say that figure is probably far too low.

Because the debris is considered contaminated with asbestos, it is a hazardous waste and can only be legally handled by a licensed contractor with workers trained and certified in clearing asbestos.
Roberts said disposing of normal construction debris costs about $ 30 per ton. Asbestos contamination could quadruple that cost, she said.

FORT SMITH, Arkansas – Last Tuesday, high winds turned a grass fire at the abandoned Army barracks at Fort Chaffee into a multi-million dollar hazardous waste cleanup area that will require state and federal aid.
The fire destroyed about 150 buildings dating from World War II, most of them abandoned barracks and a few buildings used by local businesses. The buildings had been slated for destruction, but the destruction was delayed because of the cost. The buildings all contained asbestos, and removal would have cost around $15,000 per building, or about $2.25 million.
Ivy Owen, director of the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority, says that the fire was not the cost-saving blessing some have suggested. Instead of spending the money to demolish the buildings, said Owen, the authority will now have to fund cleanup of a hazardous area, thanks to the asbestos and lead paint in the buildings.
Because of the asbestos and the lead contaminating the debris and the grounds, he said, the process of removing the remains and cleansing the area will cost about $4 million. That figure is based on estimates from the Environment Enterprises Group, based in Russellville.

The day after the fire, Sebastian County Judge David Hudson declared the fire site a disaster area. Owen hopes that the Arkansas State Department of Environmental Management concurs with Hudson’s assessment. If that happens, the authority will be eligible for state funds to assist in the cleanup.

Owen says that Sebastian County has never dealt with anything similar before. Removing the toxic debris and stripping the burned acres of contaminants is a “pressing priority”, Owen said. Both lead and asbestos are known to be present in the debris remaining after the fire. Lead exposure causes brain damage in both children and adults, as well as neurological problems. Asbestos exposure causes mesothelioma, a rare cancer, and asbestosis, among many other cancers and related illnesses.

The weather has been cooperative. The early reports of the fire stated that the high winds that fanned the flames also dispersed any lead or asbestos particles that may have been in the thick smoke, making it less likely that neighbors in the surrounding community would have been exposed to asbestos or lead. Since the fire, rain and generally moist conditions have helped damp down the debris and kept dust from releasing asbestos fibers into the air.

When the area dries out, though, said Owen, asbestos will become a problem again, though the lead paint won’t be as hazardous because it’s in the ground. Asbestos fibers, however, could be stirred by the wind and become airborne.

The authority has fenced the entire area to keep out passersby and tourists. The fire affected 100 acres of land. The fence is nine-tenths of a mile long.

The DEQ will test the soil at Chaffee to determine the amount of lead and asbestos contamination. If the asbestos and lead paint contamination is higher than a certain percentage, the debris will have to be transported to a hazardous waste dispoal site in Oklahoma. That, says Owen, will cost a lot more than $4 million.