Archive for the ‘Iowa’ Category

Bancroft, Iowa – A northern Iowa school has had to make a difficult decision and temporarily close down, but administrators believe it was absolutely necessary to protect the health of students and staff.

North Kossuth Elementary School in Bancroft, Iowa was closed down after the results of asbestos testing came in on Monday April 28.

The results of the tests indicated that asbestos levels in the school are higher than what is generally considered to be safe. In one classroom, asbestos levels up to ten times higher were noted. Asbestos levels up to one thousand times higher than what is considered safe were shown in a hallway on the school’s second floor.

After viewing the test results, school district officials decided it was time for North Kossuth to close down.

Superintendent Mike Landstrum said that the school board didn’t want to have to close the school, but the reports of those tests were worrying enough that it has to happen. School officials don’t want to take any chances that might end up compromising the health of students and staff.

The school’s 145 children will miss two or three days of school, after which they will attend a nearby Swea City school for the remainder of the school year.

With just three weeks left in the school year, parents are concerned about the disruption to their children’s’ education, but most are even more concerned about the asbestos at North Kossuth and agree that closing down the school and moving the children is the right thing to do.

Asbestos is an increasingly common problem in schools, but it’s rarely as serious an issue as it is for North Kossuth Elementary School.

The dangerous substance is present in a large number of older schools because of its common use in construction materials prior to the 1980s. Any school built before then stands a good chance of containing asbestos.

Exposure to asbestos is dangerous because it is a known cause of cancer and other debilitating diseases.

In most cases, however, asbestos is not a serious health risk in schools because it is well-contained and is safe if lest undisturbed. Schools that contain asbestos are required to develop and maintain asbestos-management programs to ensure that the asbestos is not a health risk.

For most schools, asbestos isn’t a problem unless renovations are planned. In such cases asbestos must be removed or otherwise neutralized before renovations can be carried out.

Des Moines, Iowa – The Mehringers, of Des Moine, Iowa, have their doubts about buying a home that was built on a former airport runway, but ultimately, they’re confident that the land is clean and non-toxic.

They knew when they bought the property that it was built on the former Stapleton International Airport site, and that the land was formerly contaminated with asbestos and chemicals, but say they believe it’s now clean.

They can’t help wondering, though. Mark Mehringer says, “With a cleanup like that, it’s to pretty high standards, but we do occasionally wonder about certain spots in the lawn where things don’t grow well.”

Researchers and planners say that the Mehringer’s experience isn’t unusual: people who buy property on reclaimed industrial land tend to believe that their homes are safe, despite their history.

There are plenty of examples of these types of developments. Former industrial sites are cleaned up and redeveloped as residential and commercial spaces.

In Atlanta, for example, a 130 acre development is planned to replace a former steel mill. The new development will include homes for ten thousand people, as well as entertainment venues and retail stores.

In O’Fallon, Missouri, a planned housing and retail complex will be built on a former trailer park that needs substantial cleaning to remove an estimated 34,000 tons of asbestos waste.

And this week, a couple in Minneapolis won a claim for compensation after the asbestos-containing remains of a bridge were discovered on their property: unbeknownst to them, the land they had bought was once the site of a construction materials landfill.

Some residents simply don’t know that their home has a toxic past. John and Judy McEachran had no idea their land was the former site of a landfill until contractors began digging the basement for the home they planned to build. At the time they purchased the lot, state law hadn’t required that the seller disclose that information to buyers.

Others, like the Mehringers, know the history but trust in the ability of planners and developers to clean up the site before developing it for human habitation.

However, given that the McEachrans have endured a four-year-long battle to claim compensation for the costs of cleaning up their property—to the tune of $150,000—it makes sense to find out the history of a property before you buy it.

Ankeny, Iowa – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has some major safety concerned about a development site at Ankeny, which was once used as a landfill and ‘industrial lagoon.’ Among the contaminants at the site are asbestos, munition components, and carcinogenic compounds.

The most pressing issue is the fact that some 38 acres of the land parcel will be converted into a city park after the site has been cleaned up.

The 1,000 acre parcel of land is a former World War II munitions plant site. City officials and developer DRA Properties plan to turn the contaminated site into a ‘live-work-play’ development, with 10,000 residents by 2020.

However, there are some major concerns about the current state of the thousand acre land parcel. Some of the land is so heavily contaminated that it has been designated an Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site. This designation is only give to sites with uncontrolled hazardous waste that is considered a risk to human health.

Contaminants present at the site include asbestos and other carcinogens, including chemicals such as benzopyrene. Also present on the site are unsafe levels of arsenic, manganese, antimony, lead, chromium, and copper.

The area of most concern is the section of land that will be converted into a city park of almost 40 acres. The site, which was once used as an industrial lagoon, has a particularly high concentration of metal contaminants.

According to the EPA, the metals will be sealed away under thick barrier layers of plastic and clay.

EPA toxicologist Jeremy Johnson says that currently, one in ten thousand people has a cancer risk if they experience a lifetime’s worth of exposure to the contaminants at the site. After the clean-up project is completed, that will drop to one in a million. Johnson says simply that “those cancer risks won’t be there.”

Among the real threats of asbestos and other carcinogens that are present on the site, there are also tales about uranium deposits having been buried on the land.

Some residents believe that the site was involved in research for the Manhattan Project, even though a review by ISU officials has uncovered no evidence to support the idea. ISU officials, in collaboration with the Iowa Department of Public Health, have even used radiation-detection equipment at the site and found no evidence of increased radiation levels.

Ankeny City Manager Carl Metzger says that while some of the contaminant threats are real, it’s time to lay to rest the urban legend that deposits of uranium are buried on the site. “There are just a lot of stories and myths and hypotheses about this piece of ground,” says Metzger, “we need to move beyond the tales and toward the facts.”

March 11, 2008, Des Moines, Iowa – This week, the news hit that Des Moines developer Bob Knapp may face criminal brought by the Environmental Protection Agency following an alleged incident of asbestos mishandling at the Equitable Building.

State officials and EPA representatives discussed the case in a teleconference held last Thursday, and on Tuesday the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission voted unanimously to refer the case to the Iowa Attorney General’s office. The Attorney General’s office has the power to assign a fine of up to $10,000 per for each day on which asbestos violations occurred.

Knapp has been redeveloping the upper floors of the 84-year-old 19-storey Equitable Building, intending to convert the space into condominiums. However, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources has alleged that Knapp violated state asbestos safety regulations.

Use of asbestos in construction and renovation materials was widespread between the 1940s and 1980s. Older buildings that undergo renovation or demolition must be treated with caution due to the likelihood that asbestos is present.

According to state inspectors, however, Knapp’s work crews failed to dispose of asbestos-containing materials safely and properly. The Department of Natural Resources also alleges that Knapp’s crews illegally disposed of asbestos waste at the nearby Polk County landfill.

Polk County Landfill manager Mike Fairchild said that Knapp’s work crews have endangered workers and other landfill users by dumping friable asbestos at the site. Friable asbestos is easily crumbled, and fibers are likely to become airborne and inhalable.

Inhalation of asbestos fibers is known to be the sole course of mesothelioma and asbestosis. Both diseases are incurable, and mesothelioma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer, is particularly lethal.

State inspectors also claim that the crews failed to comply with other asbestos regulations. The crews allegedly did not inspect the premises for asbestos or remove the asbestos prior to remodeling.

Bob Knapp’s lawyer says that Knapp disagrees with claims laid by Department of Natural Resources inspectors. According to Knapp, the asbestos was cleaned up properly, and there were no incidents of asbestos exposure.

Equitable Building tenants aren’t convinced, particularly after DNR inspectors found asbestos debris and dust in areas of the building that weren’t being renovated.

According to John Bouslog, a partner in a law firm located in the Equity Building, tenants were not informed that asbestos may be an issue until four months after the Department of Natural Resources discovered the problems.

Bouslog has raised particular concerns about the DNR’s failure to inform tenants in light of reports that asbestos dust was found in other areas of the building, and following tests that indicated the presence of asbestos in at least one office in the building.

A law firm tenanted on the sixth floor of the Equity Building hired an independent laboratory to conduct air quality tests in their offices. The tests came back positive for asbestos.

Iowa DNR investigator Tom Wuehr says that positive asbestos tests mean visitors to the Equitable Building, as well as people who work in the building, may have been exposed to asbestos.

March 10, 2008, Des Moines, Iowa - Prominent Des Moines developer Bob Knapp may face criminal brought by the Environmental Protection Agency following an alleged incident involving the mishandling of asbestos at the Equitable Building.

State officials and EPA representatives discussed the case in a teleconference held last Thursday, but as yet the EPA has not confirmed that criminal charges will be brought.

Bob Knapp has been redeveloping the upper floors of the 84 year old 19 storey Equitable Building for the purpose of converting the floors into condominiums. However, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources claims that Knapp and his work crews have violated state regulations that are supposed to protect workers and the public from airborne, inhalable asbestos fibers.

Inhalation of asbestos fibers is known to be the sole course of asbestosis, asbestos cancer, and mesothelioma. Both diseases are incurable, and mesothelioma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer, is particularly lethal.

State inspectors say that Knapp’s work crews have failed to dispose properly of insulation containing asbestos, including illegal disposal of asbestos waste at the Polk County landfill. State records show that illegal disposal of asbestos waste saved the Knapp work crew around $19,000 in waste disposal fees in the month of October alone.

Landfill manager Mike Fairchild said that the actions of the Knapp work crews have endangered workers and other landfill users. The asbestos disposed of by the crews is friable, meaning it is easily crumbled, allowing fibers to become airborne and inhalable.

In addition, the inspectors say that the crews did not inspect the premises for asbestos, and remove the asbestos prior to remodeling, which is required according to asbestos regulations.

In mid-February, a law firm with offices on the sixth floor of the Equitable Building had hired an independent Des Moines laboratory to test the air quality at the firm’s offices. The tests came back positive for asbestos.

According to Iowa DNR investigator Tom Wuehr, these positive asbestos tests mean that visitors to the Equitable Building, as well as people who work in the building, may have been exposed to asbestos fibers.

Bob Knapp’s lawyer has responded by saying that Knapp disagrees with many of the claimed laid by the DNR. Knapp says that the asbestos was cleaned up, and that people weren’t exposed to asbestos during the remodeling.

Even so, many of the Equitable Building’s tenants are alarmed by recent events, particularly following reports that DNR inspectors found dry asbestos debris and dust in areas of the building that weren’t being renovated.

This week, the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission will decide whether or not Bob Knapp should be referred to the Attorney General’s office. If this occurs, the EPC will recommend Knapp be fined.

The DNR can assess a fine of up to $10,000, but in this case, DNR lawyers and representatives believe a larger fine is in order. The Attorney General’s office may assign a fine of up to $10,000 per for each day on which asbestos violations occurred.

DES MOINES, Iowa - State environmental regulators have charged the developer at a Des Moines landmark with asbestos violations that may have exposed thousands of people to the deadly fibers. Inspectors are currently investigating whether workers at the historic Equitable Building were negligently exposed to the deadly carcinogen.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources charged Bob Knapp with asbestos violations at the Equitable Building in September, sparking an investigation by the Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Bureau. The DNR alleged that they found dry asbestos insulation throughout the building and evidence that asbestos had been disposed of improperly in the 19 story building that is being partially converted into luxury condominiums.

The work had been in progress for over 14 months before the DNR received an anonymous tip about the situation. During that time, thousands of people may have visited the building while work was in progress. Those thousands of people may have been exposed to cancer-causing asbestos fibers.

Asbestos, a deadly carcinogen, was used in construction for many purposes until about 1980, and the EPA estimates that there are over 750,000 buildings in the United States that contain asbestos in one form or another. As those buildings age and need repairs and renovations, the contained asbestos becomes a potential health hazard. Airborne asbestos fibers can be inhaled and cause serious health problems decades after exposure. The illnesses related to asbestos exposure include asbestosis, asbestos cancer, lung cancer and mesothelioma, a rare cancer that is much more common among those who worked with and around asbestos.

Because of the serious hazards connected with asbestos exposure, contractors and others who work in older buildings are required by law to follow specific safety precautions when renovating areas that contain asbestos. The DNR alleges that Knapp and his firms failed to check for asbestos before beginning renovations on the upper floors. Knapp disputes the claims and believes that workers and building visitors were not exposed and are safe.

Knapp’s lawyer states that state officials have received documents showing that Knapp’s workers followed all appropriate safety rules.

Investigators allege that Knapp and his crews did not inspect for asbestos, allowed dry asbestos to accumulate around the building, ignored an evacuation order and did not file proof that asbestos was removed and disposed of by a certified asbestos contractor according to federal rules.

This is not Knapp’s first brush with asbestos disposal regulations. In 2000, the DNR cited Knapp for failing to inspect for asbestos before beginning renovations at another development project, the Suites of 800 Locust Hotel. No fines were assessed in that case.

Removing asbestos in a building like the Equitable Building can cost hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars. The building currently houses a bookstore, a jeweler, a dental office, a law firm and an insurance firm.