Union files complaint after asbestos found in baltimore building

Baltimore, Maryland â€" A Child Welfare Services building at 1510 Guilford St in Baltimore may have an asbestos problem that exposed up to 350 state employees, as well as countless numbers of children who have visited the building. According to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, over the weekend, outside maintenance contractors working at the building found suspected asbestos on pipes. The workers alerted the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health Administration to the potential danger on Monday 28 April. Asbestos is known to cause more than one type of cancer, as well as other serious and chronic health conditions. In general, long-term or heavy exposure increased the likelihood of developing an asbestos-related disease, but cancers can potentially develop after relatively small amounts of exposure. However, because asbestos-related cancers take anywhere from two to five decades to develop, it’s not possible to ascertain whether a risk is present based on whether people have recently gotten sick. Union spokesperson Joe Lawrence said there was supposed to be a meeting about the issue, but it was first postponed twice, and then eventually cancelled. Lawrence says it’s been difficult to get any information about the incident. Employees have apparently been complaining about dangerous conditions in the building for a long time. Last summer, employees filed a complaint with the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health Administration about water leaks and rodent infestations. The MOSH issued an extermination order but according to union officials, didn’t continue with regular inspections as promised. Joe Lawrence says that the building has a history of problems, and the union isn’t satisfied that the MOSH is taking all of its concerns seriously. Brian Wilbon, Deputy Secretary for Operations at the Department of Human Resources, says that there were no contractors working at the building over the past weekend. In addition, says Wilbon, the building has been inspected two separate times over the past year, and asbestos was not found on either occasion. Wilbon said that the results of both of those inspections were presented to workers at meetings held during the year, and also says he would not hesitate to remove staff from the building if he believed that there was any danger present. Currently around 350 Maryland Department of Social Services employees are working in the building, which is on lease to the state. (Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News)

Epa to conduct air tests at iowa tornado site

The Environmental Protection Agency will monitor air samples in Parkersburg, Iowa as part of the massive continuing clean-up efforts in the wake of the EF-5 tornado which swept through the area on May 25, killing six people and injuring almost seventy others. EPA Region 7 personnel will be testing for asbestos and other particulates in the air, to ensure that it is safe for residents to return to their homes, and safe for non-residents who are providing assistance with clean-up and rebuilding efforts.. The testing will be carried out by EPA on-scene coordinators beginning Tuesday June 10, and will continue for as long as is required. Testing will be conducted at several key points in Parkersburg. EPA Region 7 will deploy its Mobile Command Post on June 11. The unit is outfitted with the equipment needed to receive and transmit sample data. The tornado arrived in Parkersburg on the afternoon of Sunday, May 25, and during a short time it devastated the town, leaving almost half of it heavily damaged or in ruins the next day. The storm hit Parkersburg just after 5PM on Sunday. On its east-to-west path it struck Parkersburg, New Hartford, and Dunkerton. Around eighty miles to the southwest, the Des Moines area had heavy rain and wind that gusted to 70MPH. Disaster proclamations were issued for Black Hawk, Buchanan, Butler, and Delaware counties. Several days’ worth of harsh weather across the nation preceded the Iowa tornado. On Friday May 23, two people were killed in Kansas, and Oklahoma was hit by storms the next day. The following Monday another tornado struck Kay County. The day after the tornado, Parkersburg officials counted 222 homes and 21 businesses destroyed, and more than 400 homes damaged. City hall, the local high school, and the town’s only gas station and grocery store were destroyed. Butler County Sheriff Jason Johnson said the more than 600 homes damaged or destroyed, plus the businesses, accounted for around half the town. Iowa Governor Chet Culver said the devastation was overwhelming to witness, “You can’t imagine this kind of devastation, homes completely gone. And to see people trying to sort through their belongings is very difficult.” Rescuers continued to sift through the wreckage of homes and businesses for several days, but the death toll is officially at six, according to Bret Voorhees, bureau chief of Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management. (Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News)

Did scientology cruise ship expose passengers to asbestos?

Alarming reports have been surfacing about the Scientology cruise ship known as the MV Freewinds, which is it said is packed full of Crocidolite, otherwise known as blue asbestos. The ship, which is owned by the Church of Scientology under the name “’Majestic Cruise Lines,” has been sealed and docked in Mathey Warf in Curacao, Netherlands Antilles, for the last several days. Large amounts of Crocidolite (blue asbestos) were found to be present onboard the ship, and a statement from the vessel’s captain indicates that there have been previous incidents where the asbestos was released into the ship’s onboard ventilation system, which could potentially have resulted in asbestos exposure for everyone on board. The Curacao Drydock Company was contracted to carry out refurbishment and repairs on the ship when it docked earlier this week, but the company has since ceased work due to the risk of asbestos exposure. Several officials, including deputy head of the Department of Labor Affairs Christiene van der Biezen and local health department head Tico Ras, inspected the ship and took samples from paneling that was subsequently found to contain blue asbestos in significant amounts. Subsequently, the Executive Council held a meeting and decided that informing the public would be the best way to avoid rumors and other problems. Other reports say that allegations about asbestos onboard the ship were made at least seven years ago. Lawrence Woodcraft, an architect and former Scientologist, apparently filed an affidavit claiming that he encountered blue asbestos on the ship in 1987â€"more than twenty years agoâ€"and informed Scientology leaders. Online magazine Radar says it spoke with a Scientology spokesperson, who said that the ship hasn’t been sealed and is undergoing a planned overhaul that will be completed according to schedule. The Scientology spokesperson said “The Freewinds regularly inspects the air quality on board and always meets or exceeds US standards. Inspections done on April 15, 2008 and April 28, 2008 again confirmed that the air quality is safe, in accordance with the standards set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the U.S. Clean Air Act.” Regardless, other agencies have suggested that anyone who has ever spent time aboard the MV Freewinds should consider seeing their doctor to determine if asbestos exposure has done any damage to their health, and to arrange ongoing health monitoring. (Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News)

Asbestos testing continues after boulder apartment fire

Environmental experts have carried out multiple air quality tests at the Hill House Apartments, the Boulder, Colorado building which caught fire early in July. Officials say it could be weeks before residents can return to their homes, due to the presence of airborne asbestos in the building. The four-story building burned for several hours on July 12, leaving more than fifty residents homeless, most of whom are students at the University of Colorado. The fire started at around 5.15 in the afternoon, and police and fire officials say the likely cause is a discarded cigarette. The next day, crews found there was asbestos present in drywall and as a result officials determined that the building was uninhabitable. Air testing and preliminary clean-up has been an ongoing process since then but the building is still not considered safe for habitation for the residents who were displaced. Ironically, asbestos was often used as a fire proofing and flame retardant material. On that basis it was added to many different types of construction products up until the mid 1980s. However, inhalation of asbestos fibers can cause cancer and other serious diseases, meaning that there are health and safety concerns for residents of the building and firefighters who worked to quench the flames. During a fire, asbestos fibers can easily become airborne as burned materials disintegrate and are spread around by high-pressure water blasts. In severe cases an entire building may become unsafe even if it contained asbestos in discrete areas. These conditions have in the past prevented residents of other burned buildings from retrieving possessions at all, because removing asbestos from porous items such as furniture and clothing is a difficult, lengthy, and expensive process. In Texas earlier this year, for example, former tenants of the Bellerive Apartments were left homeless and without their possessions for several months because they had become contaminated with asbestos. According to Dave Lowrey, a Boulder Fire Marshal, the fifty or more residents who were displaced from the thirty burned units in the Hill House Apartment building won’t know whether they can return to their homes until the air tests are fully completed. Lowrey says the decision can’t be made until a new round of air samples are taken and tested, and “We will make a determination as soon as we know how bad it is.” (Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News)

City may sue over asbestos abatement issues

New Haven, Connecticut â€" The Mayor of New Haven, Connecticut is considering suing those responsible for mishandling asbestos during an abatement project, as problems created by the mishandling may mean the city cannot collect nearly $1 million in reimbursement for the work. Mayor John M. Picard hopes to try and change the state’s mind about what costs the state is willing to reimburse, and plans to use litigation as a last resort to try and recoup the money spent on the project. Picard plans to try all possible methods to ensure the city is reimbursed, saying, “I want the taxpayers to know that litigation is possible. I’m not going to stop until we get reimbursed one way or the other.” The state has so far agreed to reimburse the city $955,000 for asbestos abatement completed several years ago at West Haven High School. However, the state has also said that $1.2 million of the $2.5 million spent is ineligible for reimbursement. According to the state, costs are not reimbursable if there is no evidence of a public bid for the work, no plan review, inadequate documentation for the work, and no submitted charge orders. The problem arises from the fact that the project to remove and replace the asbestos-containing façade of West Haven High School ended up almost twice as large as originally planned. Partly due to those initial miscalculations over the size of the project, it was expanded without the extra paperwork which would have preserved the project’s full eligibility for reimbursement.  Some of the work was carried out to address air quality issues at the school. Picard says he will first attempt to convince the state to reconsider what costs are eligible for reimbursement. To facilitate this, members of West Haven’t state delegation will ask the state to extend the deadline for seeking reimbursement for the work. The city has already sent last-minute documents which might make an additional $375,000 eligible for state reimbursement. Litigation will be a last resort. At this stage Picard has declined to name any people or companies that might be named in a lawsuit. However, Building Oversight Committee Chairman Kenneth Carney has said that litigation will target “whoever is responsible for allowing work to proceed without it going out to bid and without filling out proper paperwork to get state reimbursement.” Likely targets may include contractors who carried out the work, or individuals involved in bidding out the contracts. (Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News)

Montpelier schools will open late due to asbestos problems

Montpelier, Vermont â€" All three schools in the district of Montpelier in Vermont will open late this year, due to the asbestos problems suffered by Main Street Middle School. Rather than opening on August 28 as planned, the schools will all open several days later on September 2. Repeated asbestos-related issues at Main Street Middle School are at the root of the late opening, and the delay in the start of the new school year will allow the complete removal of the contamination. The problems began around two weeks ago, when Main Street Middle School was closed by the state Department of Health due to possible asbestos contamination. The school was closed on July 28 after a state Department of Health safety inspector found that workers at the school were using improper practices to remove floor tiles which contained asbestos. Employees of the contracting company were chipping asbestos tiles off the floors to prepare for laying new tiles. The workers were not wearing face masks or using air-sampling pumps to monitor air quality while the asbestos was being removed. Classroom doors were left open, and there were no barriers around the work area to ensure that other workers were not able to enter. As a result, the DOH shut down the project, and all contractors, employees, and any other workers using the building have been asked to vacate until it has been deemed safe to return. Two other schools in the Montpelier district may face similar but less serious problems. Williamstown Elementary and Barre Town Middle and Elementary School both used the same contractor which was shut down at Main Street Middle School for its unsafe work practices. Barre Town Middle and Elementary School has already voluntarily closed, and remains closed. The school was evacuated and closed on July 29, after school officials heard that the construction company they were using had already been removed from the Main Street school. Officials of both of the closed schools are waiting to hear from the Department of Health for approval of clean-up plans to address asbestos contamination issues. The work at Williamstown Elementary has already been completed, and it seems that there may be no safety issues at the school. According to Vermont Department of Health environmental and occupational epidemiologist Dr. Austin Sumner, the job was much smaller and mechanical tile chippers were not used. School district officials worked tirelessly to try and solve the asbestos problems in time for the beginning of the new school year, with the district’s asbestos control officer Chris Crowther devising a plan for removing the asbestos from Main Street Middle School. Despite their best efforts, however, the schools will now be opening a little later than planned. (Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News)

Hud grant provides $2m for nashua mill clean-up

The federal government has agreed to contribute $2 million in funds to help with the clean up of a contaminated piece of land which is part of Nashua’s Millyard complex. The site has been long designated for redevelopment, but the heavy contamination has delayed any plans. The grant money is coming from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, and will be used to finance work at the Boiler House, a city-owned site which once housed the engine of a former textile mill. The money will be used to remove asbestos, contaminated soil, and underground storage tanks from the site. Mayor Donnalee Lozeau announced May 2 that the city had received the grant via the HUD Brownfields Economic Development Initiative. City economic development director Kathy Hersh said, “The timing allows the city to consider this impact as we review the latest plans for the Broad Street Parkway project.” Brownfield is the term used to describe sites which are federally designated as being contaminated sites. The Nashua Brownfields Program, led by Deb Chisholm, will provide the city with technical expertise on how to deal with the environmental issues raised by the Brownfields site. The Boiler House is located in an area which is slated for development into the Broad Street Parkway. The redevelopment project is intended to help remedy issues concerning the possible environmental impact caused by heavy contamination in parts of the Millyard. Approximately three quarters of the money has been designated to cover the cost of removing asbestos from the site. The asbestos is contained within buildings on the site. Asbestos is expensive to remove and dispose of due to the health risks of asbestos exposure. Safety precautions which must be taken during asbestos handling and removal, and the extra expense of disposing of asbestos-containing waste, make any projects involving asbestos removal costly. While the asbestos does not pose a danger outside the buildings, there are sections where the asbestos is wrapped around pipes and may prove difficult to access due to the height of the ceilings inside the buildings. Chisholm says of the current project, that while the contaminated soil is fairly standard in comparison to what is found in most urban fill areas and is not a significant problem, “The asbestos has to be cleaned up whether the building is rehabbed or gets demolished.” (Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News)