Burley, Idaho – An old processing plant in Burley, Idaho’s West Main Street will undergo a Phase I environmental study to determine the nature and extent of the plant’s environmental problems. The plant is expected to be contaminated with significant amounts of asbestos, and perhaps other potentially toxic substances as well.

The plant is currently owned by J.R. Simplot C. A company with planned premises nearby the plant site, High Desert Milk, Inc., plans to buy the old processing plant, and has requested the environmental study be carried out before it purchases the property.

High Desert Milk wants the plant so it can gain access to an industrial sewer line that connects to an industrial wastewater treatment plant. The company needs access to the sewer line before it begins operating, which is scheduled to happen in June.

Although the city of Burley had originally planned to buy the Simplot land itself, it’s happy to let High Desert Milk do so.

The High Desert Milk Company has expressed an intention to donate the Simplot property to the city once it has gained ownership. High Desert Milk wants the property simply because it needs quick access to the sewer line, and can buy the property more quickly than the city can. With operation scheduled to commence in June it doesn’t want to wait to obtain the property.

The Phase I environmental study for the Simplot property will cost an estimated $6,225, and is being paid for by the city of Burley.  Mayor Jon Anderson says that paying for the study is in the best interests of the city, because it will give a good indication as to how much asbestos is present on the site, and how much an asbestos abatement project would cost.

Anderson said that the possibility of the gift is a valuable one, but he doesn’t want the city to take it without a good idea of what it’s getting.

Asbestos abatement is an expensive business, and many older industrial plants contain large amounts of the toxic substance. Asbestos abatement projects in large industrial locations can potentially cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Asbestos was widely used in industrial plants because it provided cheap, effective insulation and fire resistance. In a processing plant it may be located in insulation and any locations where protection from heat is needed, such as near furnaces and boilers, and in moving parts of machinery.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 29th, 2008 at 5:14 pm and is filed under Asbestos Exposure, Idaho. 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.