Archive for the ‘Asbestos Testing’ Category

The federal Environmental Protection Agency has announced it will provide $25,000 in technical assistance for a Brownfields pilot study in Greenville, South Carolina. The EPA will also work with the city of Greenville in developing the Brownfields project.

The city of Greenville plans to convert a contaminated Brownfields site located within the city via a sustainable redevelopment project. Currently the site of a former service station and supermarket, the city plans to convert the site into a block of affordable housing.

Cleaning up the site will involve removal of a substantial amount of asbestos and lead paint, as well as removal of old tanks and demolition of buildings.

Contaminants such as asbestos and lead pain must be removed before demolition can be carried out, due to the hazards associated with exposure to these toxins. Other issues such as the removal of old tanks from the former service station require that the project be developed and implemented carefully.

Another issue is that Greenville plans to incorporated as many sustainable features and construction materials as possible in developing the new housing, with energy-efficient designs and use of specific types of construction materials.

Brownfield is the term used to describe sites which are federally designated as being contaminated sites. The Brownfield Redevelopment Program is designed to offer financial incentives for companies to redevelop old industrial and commercial properties which are contaminated with hazardous substances.

Brownfields sites are contaminated with hazardous substances such as asbestos, lead, heavy metals, solvents, and other chemicals. Many, including asbestos, are known human carcinogens.

According to EPA web site information on brownfields, “EPA’s Brownfields Program is designed to empower states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields.”

“It is estimated that there are more than 450,000 brownfields in the U.S. Cleaning up and reinvesting in these properties increases local tax bases, facilitates job growth, utilizes existing infrastructure, takes development pressures off of undeveloped, open land, and both improves and protects the environment.”

“Brownfields grants continue to serve as the foundation of EPA’s Brownfields Program. These grants support revitalization efforts by funding environmental assessment, cleanup, and job training activities.”

Montpelier’s Main Street Middle School seems to be making every effort to solve its asbestos problems, with federal Environmental Protection Agency officials in the school to investigate the possible asbestos contamination which resulted in the school closing this week.

The school was closed on July 28, and currently officials don’t know whether the school will be able to open in time for the beginning of the new school year, less than one month away. The district’s asbestos control officer Chris Crothers says the extent of the asbestos problems, and the measures required to solve them, may keep the school closed into the new academic year.

Main Street Middle School was closed after a state Department of Health safety inspector found that workers at the school were using improper practices to remove floor tiles which contained asbestos. DOH asbestos and lead engineer Andrew Chevrefils noticed that workers were using methods which violate state regulations for removal of asbestos.

Employees of the contracting company were chipping asbestos tiles off the floors to prepare for laying new tiles. The workers were not wearing face masks or using air-sampling pumps to monitor air quality while the asbestos was being removed. Classroom doors were left open, and there were no barriers around the work area to ensure that other workers were not able to enter.

Chris Crothers says that based on the removal method and the lack of safety precautions, exposure was likely to have occurred, due to the probability of airborne asbestos particles being present. However, Austin Sumner, a DOH environmental and occupational epidemiologist, says it’s not likely that anyone working at the school is in “great danger” of developing an asbestos-related disease.

As a result, the DOH has shut down the project, and all contractors, employees, and other workers using the building have been asked to vacate until it has been deemed safe to return.

In addition to the floor tiles, several feet of asbestos insulation must be removed from pipes in the school’s basement.

School officials, DOH representatives and EPA representatives met at the school on Wednesday July 28. DOH officials have also notified the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Over the next month, the school must be monitored for signs of asbestos contamination, and both the basement insulation and the floor tiles must be removed. John Hollar, chairman of the Montpelier Board of School Commissioners, says the school will do everything and anything necessary to ensure the school is safe before it reopens. Chris Crothers has designed an asbestos removal plan for the school, which has received preliminary approval from the DOH.

Schenectady, New York – The Thomas O’Brien Academy of Science and Technology was last week forced to close for the upcoming school year due to asbestos-related problems. The Albany District school must undergo considerable asbestos remediation before it can open again.

Parents were later informed of the school’s problems at a meeting on Friday July 25. Parents learned that the school’s five hundred students, in pre-kindergarten to grade six, will be relocated to other schools while the Academy is closed. According to school district spokesperson Ron Lesko students will be relocated to the former Philip Schuyler Elementary School for the duration of the work on the school.

Work began on the Academy and it’s ‘parent’ school Giffen Elementary School when the school year ended in June, as part of a general improvement project. The Academy was shut down at that time to complete a small asbestos remediation project.

However, when the crews began their work, they discovered that there was much more asbestos in the Academy building than was previously thought. According to Ron Lesko, asbestos was found in places from which it was thought it had been removed in the late 1980s.

Some parents were worried at the news that asbestos was a problem at the school, but most are pleased at how the issue has been handled. The Academy, they say, has done the best it could in a bad situation, and has handled the problems promptly. A few parents are angry, however, because the first they heard of the asbestos problem and the closure of the school was on the evening news.

Asbestos issues are increasingly prevalent in schools across the country. The substance was once heavily used in construction materials of many different types, but is now becoming a serious problem. As these buildings age the risk of asbestos exposure increases, and removal is a costly procedure.

Federal law requires that all schools adhere to Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) guidelines which require schools to create and maintain asbestos management plans. In addition, schools must be inspected every three years, and asbestos management plans must be available for public review by staff and parents.

After the discovery of the extra asbestos at the Thomas O’Brien Academy, air samples were taken in school buildings, but showed there were no elevated asbestos levels present.

School officials estimate that the Academy will reopen for the 2009-2010 school year. Officials will meet with parents again this week to discuss more issues relating to the asbestos and the closure of the school.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health has issued a health consultation document stating that the BoRit asbestos site is not dangerous, saying the site poses “no apparent public health hazard to the community for cancer effects or no cancer effects.” Asbestos fibers have been found in soil, surface water, sediment, and air samples at the BoRit site over the years.

The document was released on July 14 by the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. The document was prepared at the request of the Region 3 Environmental Protection Agency, but the organizations also hope that the document will alleviate some of the public’s concerns about the safety of the BoRit site.

The document includes details of a study carried out to “determine if levels of asbestos detected in the EPA’s 2006-2007 on-site and off-site ambient air sampling at the BoRit site in Ambler were at levels of public health concern.”

According to the study, the site is not harmful to the public, but “exposures to asbestos fibers when on-site soils and asbestos-containing material are disturbed are a public health hazard to area residents.” Essentially, the site is safe for now, but could become a hazard once the clean-up begins.

In addition, activities such as on-site sampling, which the EPA carries out to determine the extent of contamination at such sites, may disturb soil and materials to the extent that they may become hazardous to the public.

The document also states that in dry weather conditions such as those seen in the area in September 2007 might cause an increase in airborne asbestos levels at the site and potentially create a public health hazard.

This month, the EPA issued a fact sheet to be distributed to area residents, to let locals know that EPA contractors will soon begin preparing the BoRit site for clean-up. This work involved clearing vegetation, repairing fencing, and building access roads so that the site can be cleaned efficiently and safely. An EPA on-scene coordinator estimates that these preparatory activities will take around 45 days to complete.

The public can read the Pennsylvania Department of Health health consultation document online at www.epaosc.net/borit, under the “Documents” heading. There is a 45-day comment period, which ends on August 31. Comments must be mailed to the following address: Pennsylvania Department of Health, Bureau of Epidemiology, Health Assessment Program, ATTN: Christine Lloyd, Health Assessor, Room 933, Health and Welfare Building, 7th and Forster Streets, Harrisburg, PA, 17120

Phoenix, Arizona - The Tempe Union High School District in Phoenix has announced it will retest all of its campuses for asbestos. Apparently, administrators can’t locate documents containing details about the removal of asbestos-containing materials, and so schools can’t verify where asbestos is located in their buildings.

District director of plant operations Bob Anderson says the inspection and testing is more of a precaution, and should cost less than $10,000 for the entire school district.

The testing was prompted by an incident which occurred back in May, when asbestos was found at Corona del Sol High School.

Parents who noticed workers dressed in protective clothing made inquiries about the situation, and Bob Anderson subsequently discovered that certain documents relating to the removal of asbestos at Corona, Marcos de Niza, McClintock, and Tempe high schools were missing.

All schools are required by federal law to adhere to Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) guidelines, which require schools to create and maintain asbestos management plans. The plans must include details of the location of any asbestos, as well as all measures taken to prevent exposure risks.

In addition, schools must be inspected every three years, and asbestos management plans must be available for public review by staff and parents.

After AHERA was passed in 1986, the Tempe Union High School District completed all the required paperwork, but the district could not afford testing for all schools.

According to Bob Anderson, schools which could not be tested were assumed to contain asbestos. The schools were tested in 1993 and again in 1996, and management plans were completed and submitted to the EPA as required.

Parents became concerned that the 1993 documents were missing and not available for public review, and in response the school district agreed to have all Tempe Union schools retested.

Some schools in the district were built after 1986 and thus don’t have to be tested regularly, however Anderson says all district schools will be tested to ensure public concerns are alleviated and make sure all of its schools are safe for students and staff.

The school district has recently spent several months testing and improving air quality at its schools in response to concerns about mold problems. Most of the work, carried out during the summer break, has now been completed.

The Environmental Protection Agency has announced it plans to hold a public meeting to discuss the method of assessing asbestos-related carcinogenic risks as outlined by the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER).

The EPA Science Advisory Board Asbestos Committee provides consultative advice for OWSER on issues relating to asbestos exposure. At the meeting participants will discuss and review OSWER’s approach for estimating specific toxicity factors relating to inhalation of asbestos fibers.

The EPA hopes that information gained and discussed at the meeting will help the agency improve its methods for estimating asbestos-related risks at Superfund sites. The EPA plans to use this information as part of an overall effort to improve and update its methods of assessing asbestos-related exposure risks.

Similarly, OSWER will use the information, together with consultative advice from the EPA Science Advisory Board, to review and update its approach to estimating inhalation risks in relation to asbestos exposure.

Currently the EPA uses methodology developed in the 1980s for assessing and quantifying asbestos exposure risks. The current methodology is based on phase contrast microscopy as a measure of numbers of asbestos particles in samples of air, soil, and other media. This method was developed using existing data from cohorts of workers previously exposed to asbestos in various industrial settings.

However, the EPA methodology currently in use does not account for differences between different types of asbestos, and varying sizes and shapes of asbestos fibers. OSWER is proposing that an interim method be developed which accounts for these and other factors when assessing asbestos exposure risks.

A number of asbestos and asbestos disease experts will be speaking at the meeting, as well as figures such as Richard A. Lemen, a pioneering asbestos researcher and former Assistant Surgeon General. Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization director Linda Reinstein will also speak at the meeting.

The meeting is planned for July 21 and 22 at the Embassy Suites, 1250 22nd St., NW, Washington., DC. Contact for the event is Douglas Larkin of the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization.

Homewood, Illinois - Test results from samples taken at Homewood Fire Station in Homewood, Illinois show that there is no asbestos present in the air, meaning that no exposure risks have occurred as a result of recent renovation work.

Asbestos was discovered at the Homewood Fire Station at 17950 Dixie Highway around two weeks ago, and testing was carried out to determine whether airborne asbestos was present in the building.

Village manager Mark Franz said a small amount of asbestos may have been disturbed during renovation work carried out on a water-damaged wall on the north side of the fire station. The work was carried out two weeks ago by a Homewood-based business, Rickoff Remodeling.

“It was just a small amount [of asbestos] discovered,” said Franz after the asbestos was found. “Unless a major problem is discovered through testing, we don’t anticipate closing down any other part of the building. But if there is more asbestos found than expected we’ll do whatever cleaning is necessary to make the building safe.”

The asbestos was removed by environmental consulting and contract service RCM soon after its discovery. Following the removal air samples and other tests were carried out by RCM to determine how high asbestos levels are and whether exposure risks are present in the building. According to Mark Franz, early asbestos tests indicate that one room on the north side of the fire station building may be above the threshold for permissible levels of asbestos.

Since the discovery and removal of asbestos the fire station has been inspected by the Illinois Department of Public Health, and officials have requested that a large part of the building be cordoned off until the results of the asbestos tests are in. Four administrative buildings in the fire station were cordoned off to carry out the “aggressive” air tests which were recommended by the Department of Public Health.

Asbestos was so commonly used in construction up until the 1980s that the discovery of asbestos inside the Homewood fire station is not a surprise. In fact, recent reports indicate that asbestos may be a common fixture in older fire stations.

In Newton, Massachusetts, for example, the town’s fire stations will all be renovated over the next ten years, partly for the purpose of removing asbestos from the buildings. Recent renovation work in Newton’s Fire Station 3 exposed several firefighters to asbestos, and asbestos was also discovered at the town’s Fire Station 2.

In the case of the Homewood, Illinois station, the asbestos was discovered without any apparent exposure risks occurring. According to Mark Franz, “The entire area has been cleared for occupancy by the Illinois Department of Public Health.”

Two contractors have this week been fined as a result of improper handling of asbestos-containing materials. They are the Cinter Construction Company, Inc. of Williamsburg, VA and AAPEX Environmental Services Inc. of Liverpool, NY.

Asbestos was a common component of construction materials up until the 1980s due to its high fire resistance and other desirable factors, but the demolition or renovation of older buildings means the asbestos they contain must be dealt with appropriately.

Dumping of asbestos-containing waste in any location other than a licensed landfill is illegal due to the hazards associated with asbestos exposure. Inhalation of asbestos fibers can cause lethal diseases such as asbestosis and mesothelioma due to the chronic inflammation that the fibers cause in the lungs.

Due to the hazards of asbestos exposure, removal and disposal of the substance must be carried out in accordance with strict state and federal regulations. This means asbestos must be removed from buildings using specific safe methods, and must only be disposed of at landfill sites which are equipped and licensed to handle the substance.

Failure to adhere to laws and regulations controlling asbestos handling can lead to hefty fines, as the two contractors discovered this week.

The Williamsburg, Virginia incident concerns the Cinter Construction Company, Inc., which was found by the Department of Environmental Quality to have dumped asbestos-containing waste from a $14 million Navy housing construction site in downtown Newport News.

The construction company had illegally dumped asbestos waste at a Suffolk landfill, mistakenly believing it was uncontaminated soil. However, when DEQ officials took samples of the twenty truckloads of waste dumped at the landfill, they found that asbestos was present.

The second incident, in Liverpool, New York, occurred after a contractor admitted in federal court to illegally removing and disposing of asbestos-containing materials. The contractor admitted to having been handling asbestos illegally for more than ten years.

AAPEX Environmental Services Inc. of Liverpool, NY also admitted to defrauding an insurance company. It had done so by failing to inform its insurer that it was carrying out activities in which asbestos handling was involved, in order to obtain lower insurance premiums.

AAPEX Environmental Services Inc. has agreed to pay a fine of $166,700 as part of a plea deal. The deal also involves an agreement to permanently cease handling asbestos-related work.

The ASARCO trial is almost over, and an enormous number of environmental and asbestos-related lawsuit claims could depend on its outcome.

Closing arguments will be given on Thursday June 12, for the case in which Arizona-based mining company ASARCO alleges that its parent company, Grupo Mexico, systematically stripped its assets and left behind little more than a shell.

Grupo Mexico is a mining conglomerate headed by Chairman and Chief Executive German Larrea Mota-Velasco. The company is the world’s third largest producer of copper, and has mining interests in several South American locations.

ASARCO filed for bankruptcy in 2005, and during the process a bankruptcy judge removed Grupo Mexico’s control over the company due to allegations that the parent company was stripping ASARCO’s assets in an attempt to protect those assets from asbestos and environmental liability claims.

Among ASARCO’s claims are that Grupo Mexico knew it faced potential liabilities of more than $1 billion when it acquired the ASARCO company in 1999, and also that the parent company knew it might also shoulder the responsibility of cleaning up to twenty Superfund sites.

In addition, ASARCO claims that Grupo Mexico stripped the subsidiary of assets, including Peruvian copper mines that ASARCO once had a significant stake in and were the company’s most significant asset. ASARCO claims the parent company did this to prevent the mines being used to pay ASARCO’s creditors.

ASARCO also claims that Grupo Mexico used the fact that it controlled all the parties in the transaction to its own advantage, because it allowed the parent company to underpay ASARCO for the mines.

ASARCO’s legal battle began Monday May 12, with the beginning of a multi-billion dollar civil lawsuit against Grupo Mexico. Among those who testified at the trial was German Larrea Mota-Velasco, who repeatedly denied wanting the Andes copper mines in question, and who stated that he had never intended ASARCO should be forced into bankruptcy.

The outcome of this civil case will likely determine whether or not many of ASARCO’s creditors—including contaminated sites in many western states, as well as bond creditors and former employees and others suffering from asbestos-related diseases that the company is liable for—will see any money when the company emerges from bankruptcy. Some estimates say that ASARCO is responsible for tens of billions of dollars worth of liability, including several billion dollars worth of claims relating to exposure to toxins such as asbestos and lead.

The Minnesota Iron Range study that has been several years in the making has finally begun, as this week researchers collected their first batch of air test samples.

The NRRI and the University of Minnesota School of Public Health are collaborating on a five year study which will investigate the health risks Iron Range miners face from exposure to mine dust. It has previously been shown that Iron Range miners have a substantially increased risk of developing mesothelioma compared to the risk for the general population.

The researchers have collected samples from a particle-sampling machine which sits atop Virginia City Hall. Over the next few months, three of these machines—which each cost $35,000—will move through communities all over the Iron Range, to allow researchers to find out what types of particles are present in the air around the mines.

This information will be invaluable if subsequent research shows that mineral particles present in the mine or the air are a human health hazard.

The testing machines have collected data for ten days in Virginia, and the filters will now be analyzed in Minneapolis, according to UMD Natural Resources Research Institute research associate Tamara Diedrich. Following the initial analysis the samples will be shipped back to UMD for more in-depth analysis using electron microscopy.

Diedrich says these initial air tests are “exploratory” work, and also says the research team is still devising a detailed plan as to how Iron Range air quality will be monitored.

The team will likely include Hibbing, Silver Bay, Babbitt, Grand Rapids, Ely, Keewatin and Chisholm in their initial sampling over the next few months. Up to ten communities may be involved, but only three will be monitored at a time due to limited resources. “This is an exciting opportunity to look at dust in the air and find out how the background changes from east to west across the Range,” Diedrich said.

The machines which are being used for the sampling “inhale” one cubic foot of air per minute, and use tiny filters to retain particulate matter in the air. The intake valve filters are just eighteen microns in diameter. A human hair, in comparison, is 70 microns in diameter.

According to Tamara Diedrich the community air monitoring will provide information about exposure to particulate matter which will be useful if there are any issues discovered during subsequent phases of the research. However, it will take up to three years’ worth of data to create a “baseline” for community particulate exposure which can be used as a basis for comparison with communities where suspected asbestos or other dangerous particles may be present in the air.