Posts Tagged ‘ asbestos cleanup ’

Asbestos News Special Report – Hurricane Sandy Cleanup & Asbestos Risk

November 1st, 2012. By LucyC

This week, Asbestos News Roundup is publishing a special report on the risk of asbestos exposure following Hurricane Sandy, along with the weekly roundup of recent asbestos-related news and information that you should be aware of. An ongoing list of reported asbestos hot spots in the US from the Asbestos News Roundup archive appears on our asbestos map.

Asbestos Exposure After Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy has brought disaster to millions of people in over half a dozen states in the eastern US. Many people either already have, or will soon begin, cleaning up their homes—or sadly, what is left of them. It goes without saying that caution and awareness of potential hazards such as asbestos exposure are extremely important in this type of situation. Among the debris removed after the 2011 tornado in Joplin, Missouri, was 2,600 tons of asbestos. Asbestos is a known carcinogen—it causes cancer—and the diagnoses of asbestos-related illnesses often prove fatal.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), on their website epa.gov, states “Individuals should exercise caution when disturbing building materials to prevent physical injury or other health effects. Building materials may contain hazardous materials such as asbestos that when carried by the air can be breathed in and cause adverse health effects. If it is suspected that asbestos containing materials may be present, they should not be disturbed. Asbestos-containing materials include the following:

• boiler/pipe insulation

• fireproofing

• floor tiles

• asbestos roofing

• transite boards used in laboratory tabletops and in acoustics in auditoriums, music rooms and phone booths

Federal, state and local personnel are often deployed to affected areas to establish debris-management programs, including household hazardous waste collection and disposal programs. These efforts may take days or weeks to come to all communities. In the meantime, EPA urges the public to exercise caution and report concerns to local environmental, health and waste disposal authorities.”

For more complete information on how to deal with environmental cleanups, visit http://www.epa.gov/naturaldisasters/returnhomeadvisory.htm

Asbestos Law

Portland, OR: An Oregon developer has pleaded guilty to charges that he allowed an unlicensed contractor to release asbestos into the air during the demolition of several buildings located in an abandoned sawmill site. The site is located near residential neighborhoods.

Dan Desler, a 68-year old businessman, was sentenced last week in federal court to pay restitution for the cleanup of the demolition of the Sweet Home sawmill. The sentence includes three years of probation and 200 hours of community service.

The EPA declared the old sawmill acreage a Superfund site and subsequently spent $1.6 million cleaning up more than 4 million pounds of asbestos.

According to a report in the Albany Democrat-Herald, Desler was managing trustee of a trust that owned the former Willamette Industries site, which had not been used for years. There were development plans which included upscale and moderately priced housing and a complex or artists, hunters and anglers, all on 400-600 acres. However, development never happened.

The original buildings on the sawmill property were various stages of disrepair, and in 2004 a fire damaged several of the buildings. According to a report on TDN.com, firefighters told state regulators of debris that appeared to contain asbestos, and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality told Desler about the asbestos. He hired a licensed contractor to abate the asbestos, but work was not completed in any of the undamaged buildings. Desler then hired an unlicensed contractor three years later, who over eight months tore down, crushed and even chipped asbestos-containing materials.

The site is near a residential area and large piles of asbestos-containing materials were left uncovered.

U.S. Attorney Amanda Marshall said in a sentencing memorandum that the developer “took short cuts that resulted in copious amounts of asbestos being released and contaminating not only the facility but the surrounding neighborhoods.” (tdn.com)

Tags: Asbestos, asbestos cleanup, Asbestos Exposure, asbestos lawsuit, Asbestos Mesothelioma, Hurricane Sandy cleanup
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