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Janice Ellis <br />From: <br />Lisa Wright <br />Sent: <br />Friday, June 20, 2008 7:59 AM <br />To: <br />Janice Ellis <br />Subject: <br />FOR ABS <br />-----Original Message----- <br />From: Lewis F. McLain, ]r. [mailto:news@citybase.net] <br />Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2007 11:12 AM <br />To: Lisa Wright <br />Subject: Fort Worth: city, EPA test of asbestos removal method draws safety concerns <br />FW, EPA test of asbestos removal method draws safety concerns <br />Fort Worth: EPA to test experimental method of asbestos removal, but some worry it isn't safe <br />for those nearby <br />12:00 AM CST on Tuesday, December 11, 2007 <br />By JEFF MOSIER and BRANDON FORMBY / The Dallas Morning News <br />FORT WORTH - A test this week of a new method for tearing down asbestos-contaminated <br />buildings is probably safe, but concerns still exist, according to experts assembled by the <br />federal government. <br />The Environmental Protection Agency, with cooperation from the city of Fort Worth, will <br />demolish a portion of the vacant Oak Hollow Apartments using an updated version of what's <br />called the "wet method," or "Fort Worth method." The method, which is still in the <br />experimental stages, has drawn the opposition of some environmentalists, who said Monday that <br />they could not garner enough support to stop the testing. <br />A successful test could help pave the way for federal approval of the first new asbestos <br />abatement method in decades and potentially make it cheaper to demolish buildings that have <br />become eyesores and neighborhood dangers nationwide. <br />Opponents fear that people in this East Fort Worth neighborhood will be exposed to escaping <br />asbestos fibers that could potentially lead to cancer and other serious lung diseases. The <br />apartments, which are owned by Fort Worth, are sandwiched between the Woodhaven Country Club <br />and a cluster of apartment complexes with large minority populations. <br />Three members of a peer review panel chosen by the EPA said the alternative method is both <br />promising and worrisome. <br />"Because they are doing this in a high-impact area, could we be putting these people at <br />risk?" asked Thomas Laubenthal, one of the panelists who studied the test done last year at <br />an empty military base in Arkansas. "I'll tell you that that question would exist <br />legitimately." <br />However, Mr. Laubenthal, technical chief at the Environmental Institute in Marietta, Ga., <br />said there is no definitive answer, and the safety of the wet method is still a"guess." <br />1 <br />,5-) (d~ <br />