11 Request an update on Casa Bonita

Home Browse Search

Critics have said the new method could allow asbestos fibers into the air, endangering nearby residents. They argued last week that the EPA should move the test to an isolated location. Two previous tests have been conducted in relatively isolated areas in Fort Smith, Ark. "I think it was the height of irresponsibility to proceed with this human experiment in a populated area," said 7ohn Walke, clean air director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, a national environmental group. Scott Frost, a trial lawyer associated with Public 7ustice, said EPA officials' "only agenda is to get their test results." Demolition work began at about 7 a.m. Monday as people nearby walked to school and work on Boca Raton Boulevard. An hour later, an excavator began flattening the building. The EPA had set up rows of air-sampling monitors at the site. The crews planned to remove about 3 inches of dirt to catch any fibers that soaked into the ground. It would have taken a specially trained crew two days just to remove the asbestos under the old method, said EPA project manager Adele Cardenas Malott. Terry Lynch, the health hazard administrator for the national asbestos workers union, said there's no way to know whether any asbestos was released. ASBESTOS ABATEMENT The issue The federal Environmental Protection Agency demolished a 2,200-square-foot office building at the Oak Hollow apartments on Boca Raton Boulevard in Fort Worth using a new technique that allows workers to take down the building without removing the asbestos. Normally, workers would seal the building in plastic, filter the air and remove asbestos by hand while wearing protective suits. But that process is time-consuming and expensive. The new method It calls for workers to soak the inside and outside walls and popcorn-textured ceiling with a special foam and treated water. The building is demolished with heavy equipment, and the water is contained on site by dirt berms. The top 3 inches of soil are removed after the demolition. The concern Leaving asbestos-laden material in the building during demolition creates the possibility of asbestos fibers drifting into the air and traveling far from the site. That could expose many people to asbestos a fibrous mineral that can scar the lungs and cause cancer if it is inhaled. Andy Oberta, a well-respected asbestos consultant in Austin who has followed the issue closely, said he worries about what will happen if this method is approved for use at buildings across the country. "You're going to have contractors that are not going to use the same care they did while the EPA was looking over their shoulders," he said. "They're not going to use this expensive foam. They're going to be out there with a garden hose." Past tests Fort Worth officials have been working on the method for about 12 years. The EPA has tested it twice before on buildings on part of the Fort Chaffee Army reserve base in Fort Smith, Ark. The first test, in April 2006, was deemed inconclusive. A second test is under review. What's next z )