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Janice Ellis <br />From: Lisa Wright <br />Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 8:00 AM <br />To: Janice Ellis <br />Subject: FOR ABS <br />-----Original Message----- <br />From: Lewis F. McLain, Jr. [mailto:news@citybase.net] <br />Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2007 11:21 AM <br />To: Lisa Wright <br />Subject: Fort Worth: wet demolition safer than leaving buildings to rot, expert says <br />Posted on Tue, Dec. 11, 2007 <br />Wet demolition safer than leaving buildings to rot, expert says <br />By SCOTT STREATER <br />Star-Telegram staff writer <br />Not all environmentalists oppose a controversial proposal to demolish asbestos-laden <br />buildings without first removing the hazardous substance. <br />Neil Carman, who directs the clean air program of the Sierra Club's Lone Star chapter in <br />Austin, supports efforts by the Environmental Protection Agency to develop alternate methods <br />that would make it less expensive to demolish asbestos-contaminated buildings. And he <br />supports plans to test the method this week at a building nestled in a residential area on <br />Fort Worth's east side. <br />It's more dangerous, he said, to leave abandoned asbestos-contaminated buildings standing. <br />Thousands of buildings nationally are still standing because current demolition standards <br />make it too expensive for cities and counties to tear the buildings down, he said. <br />"When you don't demolish a building that's falling apart, if you go out there and you test <br />the air, you're going to find asbestos fibers floating around the neighborhood. The stuff <br />could be all over the floors, and flying out the broken windows," Carman said. <br />Carman also said the alternate method would close a loophole in federal law that allows <br />building owners to wait until the structure is about to collapse, then apply for an emergency <br />exemption that allows them to tear it down without taking precautions to address the asbestos <br />inside. <br />Carman's views differ sharply from those of a number of environmental groups, public health <br />officials and asbestos experts. They argue that the proposed alternate method could allow <br />asbestos fibers to drift through the air, exposing people to the fibrous mineral that can <br />scar the lungs and cause cancer. They have asked the EPA to postpone the test until more <br />study is conducted. <br />Richard Greene, the EPA's regional administrator in Dallas, said the agency plans to go ahead <br />with the scheduled test in Fort Worth. The effort to develop an alternate method "is all <br />about helping communities get rid of old buildings that threaten the health, safety and <br />welfare of its residents," Greene said in a prepared statement. <br />I <br />C~~ <br />