Idaho Firm Tagged for Improper Asbestos Removal

In October of 2008, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, conducted an asbestos-removal compliance inspection on a property where Precision Demolition and Abatement, LLC. of Boise, Idaho had completed work.

The property, located at 4806 Emerald Street and currently known as the Orient Market, was an abandoned building slated for renovation from which asbestos first needed to be removed.

The inspection found several violations of the EPA’s NESHAP (National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants) regulations, including: failure to inform the EPA in advance when the asbestos remediation would take place; failure to keep removed asbestos adequately wet, to prevent particles entering the air; failure to carefully lower asbestos to the floor; failure to confine visible emissions; failure to mark the bin as an asbestos disposal site; and failure to prove that a trained and certified on-site inspector was present during asbestos removal.

NESHAP regulations, enforced under Section 112 of the 1990 Clean Air Act are very precise, and aimed at protecting workers and the general public from the hazards of asbestos fibers released into the air, according to Edward Kowalski, who works out of the EPA’s Seattle (Region 10) office as Director of the Office of Compliance and Enforcement.

Asbestos is a fibrous mineral widely used during most of the last century in many construction materials as an insulative agent. It was also widely used in the manufacture of floor tiles, and some acoustical ceiling tiles and acoustical ceiling sprays. In 1989, the EPA limited its use to one percent by volume (or weight) in domestic products, but imported products can still contain significant amounts of asbestos.

Asbestos is the leading cause of asbestosis, a respiratory disease that is commonly acquired only after long exposure. Asbestos is also the only known cause of pleural mesothelioma, the form of mesothelioma that affects the lungs.

Pleural mesothelioma typically has a long dormancy period, up to five decades, during which symptoms are indistinguishable from allergies or a weakened immune system. When the symptoms finally become severe enough to aid diagnosis, typically via a chest X-ray, the prognosis is usually poor, and most sufferers are given between a year and 18 months to live because the cancer has invaded so many vital tissues.

Federal NESHAP regulations require asbestos remediation firms to inform the EPA (and/or all local relevant agencies acting on its behalf) 10 days in advance of a remediation or removal project, and conduct a thorough inspection of said property for all possible instances of asbestos.

If asbestos levels exceed a certain threshold, workers must wear protective equipment to remove it, seal the area if it connects to public areas, keep the asbestos-containing materials wet at all times to prevent particles becoming airborne, and dispose of the material in proper NESHAP fashion, which includes the use of approved plastic bags and a designated, labeled container. Finally, asbestos-containing materials must be disposed of in permitted landfills that accept hazardous waste.

Precision Demolition and Abatement LLC agreed to pay, and paid, the $36,000 fine associated with its improper removal of asbestos. The air inside Orient Market has presumably been tested and deemed free of asbestos particles. Unfortunately, the improper removal of this clearly hazardous substance may have put a number of individuals in the vicinity at risk and, unlike asbestosis, mesothelioma requires only a single exposure – that is, a single inhaled or ingested asbestos fiber – to occur.

http://www.idahobusiness.net/archive.htm/2009/10/01/Precision-Demolition-pays-penalty-to-EPA

http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/8df8c052668a503085257642006819a7?OpenDocument

Asbestos Exposure

Asbestos is a needle like mineral fiber that was widely used in the manufacturing of home and industrial products such as insulation, floor tiles, paint, heating ducts and pipes, and automotive parts until the 1980’s. Asbestos is easily aerosolized into microscopic particles that can be inhaled and lodge within the lungs.

Asbestos has been shown to be highly carcinogenic, contributing to the development of malignant pleural mesothelioma, small cell lung cancer and other asbestos related cancers. Asbestos exposure also contributes to the development of non cancerous medical conditions including asbestosis and the development of non malignant pleural thickening, plaques and effusions. Though asbestos is no longer used as widely as it once was, many cases of chronic asbestos exposure are just now emerging as the disease may take years to develop. In addition, some post 9-11 rescue workers are now showing signs of developing asbestos lung diseases due to an acute exposure following the disaster.

Chronic Exposure Risks

Miners - Asbestos was widely mined in virtually every state in the country to provide the product for manufacturing. During this time, little safety gear was worn as health risks were unknown. Miners of vermiculite, talc and dolomite are also often exposed to asbestos dust as these mineral products contain a high percentage of asbestos.

Construction workers – Nearly all homes and commercial buildings constructed prior to the late 1970’s contain asbestos products. Asbestos was used for to its insulating properties and is virtually fireproof so it was considered quite safe. It was thought to be useful on virtually every surface including wall, ceiling and floor coverings, all types of insulation and in the construction of a number of household appliances. Some exterior construction materials are still being manufactured with asbestos. These may include cement board products, siding, shingles and flashing. Sand and crushed rock may also contain asbestos if the rock was obtained from an asbestos laden site.

Pipe fitters - During the 1940’s to 1980’s in the construction of power plants, oil refineries and other heat related processing plants may have exposed workers to asbestos. Pipefitters were required to not only cut and fit pipes, but also to insulate the pipes with asbestos insulation which required the cutting, sanding and installation of asbestos insulation blocks and gaskets. Protective gear was generally not worn as health risks were not recognized.

High heat industry workers - Steel, aluminum, iron and other metal workers, along with boiler makers, oil refinery workers, metal workers, power plant workers, railroad workers were exposed to asbestos as industry made large use of the insulating and fire retardant properties of asbestos.
Shipbuilders - During World War II and the Korean War, shipbuilding exposed a large number of workers to asbestos as it was used for its ability to resist corrosion and heat disruption. It was used to manufacture such parts as steam boilers, pipes and incinerators. In addition, because most of these areas are poorly ventilated, many ship crew members may have suffered from asbestos exposure due to dust that collected around such parts. Longshoremen loading the ships in the shipyards may also have had significant asbestos exposure.

Factory workers – As the chemical was widely used in manufacturing and required the inclusion of asbestos powder into hundreds of products, anyone involved in the making of products containing asbestos may have had significant chronic exposure.

Auto workers – Manufacturers and mechanics in the auto industry may have had significant asbestos exposure as it was used to manufacture gaskets for engines and in brake parts due to its ability to resist heat production from friction.

Katrina Legacy Upsets Residents

Hurricane Katrina, which swept the southern coast of the U.S. from Florida to Texas in 2005, was the sixth strongest hurricane ever recorded and left in its wake a swath of damage from the Southern Louisiana parish of Plaquemines to as far north as Clarksville, Tennessee.

The cost, in dollars, was $110 billion, making it the most expensive hurricane to hit the U.S. The cost in lives – a reported 373 deaths and 6,381 injuries – may never be known, because of events surrounding the storm, which left rescue workers stranded and the elderly unprotected in nursing homes. Some bodies may also have been washed out to sea.

Now, three and one-half years later, in East New Orleans, the La Provence Apartments near the Crowder Boulevard exit along I-10 stand as a blighted reminder to all that went wrong that August day in 2005.

The smell alone was catastrophic, residents say, and huge rats were observed running in and out of the building. Then, in May, crews finally showed up to take the building down, but celebration proved premature. No sooner had workers started bringing the building down that the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, or DEQ – acting on a tip about the company hired to deconstruct the building – pulled workers out and shut the operation down.

It seems the crew couldn’t produce the appropriate documents showing whether the building had been inspected for asbestos, even though the contractor and sub-contractor both insisted they had the necessary certification to perform the demolition in the event of asbestos being present. Unfortunately for both, work was started before either had clearance from the DEQ, or a certificate of asbestos inspection – an error ascribed to confusion over the actual age of the complex.

In the interim, the building stands partially gutted, the grass long and shaggy, every ambient breeze raising the prospect of asbestos contamination for those who live nearby. In addition to that hazard, the prospect of fire, vandalism or neighborhood violence, as the homeless and gangs use the building for shelter, has some residents threatening to move.

KBR Enterprises from Pearl River is representing the contractor, Professional Construction and Restoration, and the subcontractor, who has not been named. This is the same KBR which was spun off from Halliburton in 2006. Currently, companies are being sued by American service personnel for open-pit burning in Iraq and Afghanistan. Both are also being sued by Detroit's Police and Fire pension fund for misappropriation, and by company shareholders who charge that the two created a “pervasive environment of misdeed and corruption, resulting in enforcement actions and substantial government penalties that have severely damaged investors' holdings”.

KBR says it is hiring an environmental firm to inspect for asbestos at the La Provence complex. Department of Environmental Quality officials have threatened to enforce stiff penalties if they find the company acted in blatant violation of asbestos regulations established under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA.

http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/wwl060809blighted.5fdfe102.html

http://forums.tuscaloosanews.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/5981059265/m/2671014178/inc/-1

http://www.alternet.org/world/140118/is_kbr%27s_decade-long_crime_spree_finally_coming_to_an_end/