Fairmont, New York - The most recent deadline for an asbestos abatement project in Goldens Bridge has come and gone, and town officials have extended the deadline yet again.

Town officials have made several efforts to get property owner Brian Stein to clean up the three dilapidated cottages on the property, but Stein has not responded to any requests. All three of the dilapidated cottages contain asbestos, which must be removed before the cottages can be demolished.

Members of the Town Board finally agreed that the town would complete the work and temporarily cover the costs involved.

Asbestos, which is known to cause an aggressively lethal type of cancer called mesothelioma, was widely used in construction materials for much of the twentieth century, and due to the widespread use of the substance, older buildings must be demolished with special care.

Older buildings which contain asbestos must have all the asbestos removed before demolition can go ahead, to prevent the generation and dispersal of large clouds of asbestos dust which could contaminate the environment and be breathed in by locals.

Removal of asbestos is costly and time-consuming, however, due to the need for specially trained and licensed workers, the need for special removal techniques to limit the production of dust, and the increased costs of disposal of asbestos-containing materials.

Area residents have been complaining for almost a decade that the three cottages are dangerous, not only due to asbestos, but also due simply to their run-down state.

Three successive town administrations have had discussions on what to do about the situation, but no action was taken until this year, when Town Supervisor Edward Brancati gave Stein a deadline of May 19 to locate and hire a contractor to carry out the asbestos remediation, but the deadline passed with no progress made.

Stein responded with a letter stating that he was “appalled at [officials'] behavior and blatant lies.” Stein claims that he had been negotiating a contract with an asbestos abatement contractor, and that town officials had interfered and caused the deal to fall through.

Even so, the town has issued yet another deadline, saying that Stein now has until Monday June 9 to contact officials. Bracanti says of the new deadline, “This is really it. It’s June 9 and I am not kidding.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008 at 5:01 pm and is filed under Asbestos Exposure, New York. 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.