Epa superfund work upsets ambler residents

Around ten days ago, the Pennsylvania Department of Health has issued a health consultation document stating that the BoRit asbestos site is not dangerous, saying the site poses “no apparent public health hazard to the community for cancer effects or no cancer effects.” However, residents of Ambler, Pennsylvania aren’t convinced, and they’re concerned about public safety issues now that work is starting at the contaminated site. According to the results of a study recently released by the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, the site is not harmful to the public. However, the document also says that “exposures to asbestos fibers when on-site soils and asbestos-containing material are disturbed are a public health hazard to area residents.” It’s the implications of that last sentence which have Ambler residents worried, now that crews contracted by the Environmental Protection Agency have begun clearing out brush and vegetation to prepare the site for the clean-up work. According to the document, activities such as on-site sampling may disturb soil and materials to the extent that they may become hazardous to the public. In addition, very dry weather conditions may also cause an increase in airborne asbestos. The 38-acre BoRit site has a long history, beginning in the late 1800s. Until 1933 the site was owned and operated by Keasbey & Mattison Co., which used the site to manufacture milk of magnesia. In 1933 the site was contaminated when a number of manufactures dumped asbestos-containing waste and other industrial contaminants on the then-unused site. By the 1980s the BoRit site was considered a public health risk due to the presence of large amounts of exposed asbestos. Now designated an EPA Superfund site, the federal agency will fund and supervise clean-up of the contaminated land. However, the work currently underway on the site has some residents concerned over safety issues. Residents are also concerned about the safety of the workers themselves, as they have been spotted without protective clothing to prevent dust exposure and inhalation. Asbestos is dangerous only when fibers are airborne and can be inhaled, and the activities workers are carrying out may cause asbestos fibers to become airborne. Some Ambler residents say the EPA has violated its own guidelines because it did not warn them that the work was beginning at the site. EPA officials say there’s no danger, but residents believe even a little risk is a big enough issue. Considering that some experts say that the inhalation of just a few asbestos fibers can cause mesothelioma, its no surprise that Ambler citizens are worried. (Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News)