Archive for the ‘Virginia’ Category

Grayson County, Virginia - Builders working on the $100 million state prison project in Grayson County, Virginia, have hit a snag that may delay the project significantly. The snag? A vein of asbestos has been struck during digging on the site.

Grading began on the site last fall, but it wasn’t until May 2008 that a state-hired contractor noticed what appeared to be asbestos-a brown-colored substance softer than the surrounding rock.

Virginia Department of Corrections director of communications Larry Traylor says work ceased on the site on May 9. Subsequently state officials tested the brown substance and confirmed that it was, in fact, asbestos.

“Additional tests to determine if asbestos particles had been present in the air were performed and those results indicated no asbestos particles present,” said Traylor.

Asbestos veins occur naturally in certain types of rock, and in fact low levels of asbestos are thought to be present in around two thirds of the earth’s crust. The fibrous mineral is highly dangerous if the fibers become airborne, as they can then be inhaled.

Inhalation of asbestos can cause serious and lethal diseases, including asbestosis and mesothelioma. The fibers are little threat, however, unless they are airborne.

Larry Traylor says further tests and evaluation will be carried out during the next few weeks, and state officials will begin developing a strategy to manage the asbestos threat and get construction underway on the site.
Work will begin on site next week to remediate the asbestos vein, headed by contractor Balfour Beatty. Signs will be posted on site and awareness training for all jobsite staff will be performed.

County administrator William Ring says the discovery of asbestos “should not change the overall plan. They have to develop a plan to deal with what they have found. The site is still the selected site.” In addition, Ring says the delay shouldn’t affect the scheduled completion of the project, and the prison should still be open in 2010 as originally planned.

However, it hasn’t yet been determined how much the asbestos remediation will add to the cost of the project. Depending on the amount of asbestos present in the vein, and the amount which needs to be removed, a significant chunk of money could be added to the budget, due to the need for trained personnel for some aspects of the removal, and the need to dispose of the asbestos in locations which are equipped and licensed to handle it.

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.

Newport News, Virginia - The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality is investigating reports of a subcontractor or contractor who may have illegally dumped asbestos-contaminated construction debris at a Suffolk landfill.

The construction project in question is a new $14 million Navy housing project in downtown Newport News.

John Holland, owner of the Suffolk landfill known as John C. Holland Enterprises Inc., said that earlier this week, debris from the Navy construction site was quarantined and was undergoing testing for asbestos.

The state allows the Holland landfill to accept and dispose of non-friable asbestos materials. These are materials that are largely intact, with asbestos fibers still contained within the matrix of the material.

Friable asbestos is generally considered to be much more dangerous, as the material is deteriorating, can be crumbled easily, and can allow fibers to become airborne.

Asbestos was heavily used in construction materials between the 1940s and 1980s, due to its light-weight, durable, and fire resistant nature. However, airborne asbestos fibers are highly dangerous. Inhalation of the fibers can cause serious lung diseases, including a type of asbestos cancer called mesothelioma.

Due to the dangers of asbestos, any construction materials that contain the substance must be removed and disposed of carefully during renovation and demolition work. The asbestos materials must be removed via a process called wet-removal, in which the materials are wetted to reduce the dispersal of dust. In addition the materials must be sealed and wetted before disposal at a landfill that is licensed to deal with asbestos waste. Failure to comply with these regulations can result in heavy fines and in some cases, a prison sentence.

Holland said he can not say whether the material that was disposed of at his landfill contains asbestos or is harmless. “There is a possibility [it contains asbestos]. It’s quarantined. For right now it’s not going anywhere.”

State officials confirmed that John Holland had contacted the Virginia Beach office of the DEQ to inform the office of his suspicions about the potentially contaminated material. The DEQ then sent an inspector to the landfill to collect samples and quarantine the remaining materials.

A sample that had previously been taken from siding at the construction site was tested by an environmental laboratory and was found to contain 15% asbestos.

Of the material at the landfill, Bill Hayden, a DEQ spokesman, said “We are waiting for a copy of the lab results.” Holland says the test results are expected to be available some time next week.