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No_Life_G33k
Now with 10%less noobness


Registered: 03/08/05
Posts: 356
Last seen: 13 years, 10 months
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Asbestos in vermiculite and corporate greed
#7941110 - 01/27/08 04:12 PM (16 years, 5 days ago) |
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Web Posted: 01/17/2008 12:11 AM CST
Anton Caputo Express-News
Federal crews will begin testing the old Big Tex site on the San Antonio River for asbestos next month as part of a newly unveiled plan that should clear the area for redevelopment by the end of the year.
Officials with the Environmental Protection Agency outlined the plan to 30 or so neighborhood residents Tuesday night. The cleanup would spell an end to a local link to one of the most shameful and deadly environmental episodes in the country's history.
Big Tex was for decades a vermiculite processing plant for the WR Grace Co., which is now known to have sent millions of tons of vermiculite ore to 200 locations throughout the country that were tainted with tremolite asbestos, a particularly hazardous form of asbestos that can cause lung cancer and other deadly illnesses.
Mortality rates from such diseases were found to be 60 times the national average in Libby, Mont., where the tainted ore was mined, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
Both the company and seven executives are under federal indictment in relation to those shipments.
Big Tex was one of WR Grace's largest sites, processing 124,000 tons of the tainted ore from 1961 to 1989. The company would heat the vermiculite until it expanded and then ship it off to be used in insulation and other building material.
Developer James Lifshutz wants to turn the dilapidated industrial area on the banks of the river near Probandt Street into a trendy mixed-use development in the same vein as his Blue Star Art Complex, which borders the Big Tex site. Lifshutz said he's ready to go ahead with his redevelopment plans, but only if the site is given a clean bill of health.
"I'm not interested at all (in building)a project if there is any residue of doubt," he said.
The EPA plans to begin soil testing next month. Crews will take 350 samples as deep as a foot below the surface on the 7.5-acre property.
Once results are in, which should take about a month, crews will return and conduct a series of air tests. These tests will include a number of activities, such as raking, to kick up dust in an attempt to simulate real-life use of the property.
Because the asbestos from the Libby mine is different and more dangerous than typical commercial-grade asbestos, standard regulatory limits will not suffice in this case, said Eric Delgado, the EPA's on-scene coordinator.
"That's the problem with the Libby sites," he said. "It's frustrating."
After the testing, toxicologists will have to conduct a risk assessment of the site to determine a standard considered safe for redevelopment.
Crews should start removing contaminated soil and replacing it with clean fill sometime this summer. That job is expected to take three to six months.
Not everybody at Tuesday's meeting was satisfied with the way things are progressing at the site. Several residents said they were concerned that recent nearby work by city crews building a hike and bike trail could have kicked up contaminated soil. But city officials at the meeting said air sampling conducted during the work showed no sign of contamination.
Bill Bourne, who represents the area on San Antonio's community advisory panel, told regulators it would be necessary to test soil at depths greater than a foot because of the chance that asbestos was buried over the decades.
How much the cleanup will cost is not clear. The federal government will pay for the cleanup, but it also is unclear who will be sued to recoup that expense.
WR Grace recently agreed to a $34 million bankruptcy settlement with the Department of Justice to help clean up hazardous waste sites around the country. Delgado said some of this money might be available for the Big Tex site.
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derx
who run it



Registered: 05/29/03
Posts: 2,459
Loc: dx/dt
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Re: Asbestos in vermiculite and corporate greed [Re: No_Life_G33k]
#7941131 - 01/27/08 04:15 PM (16 years, 5 days ago) |
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I've heard a lot of mixed opinions on this. It would really be nice to know what is going on.
-------------------- better living through chemistry OVERGROW the government!! it's not a war on drugs, it's a war on personal freedom, ok, thats what it is.
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RogerRabbit
Bans for Pleasure



Registered: 03/26/03
Posts: 42,214
Loc: Seattle
Last seen: 11 months, 3 days
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Re: Asbestos in vermiculite and corporate greed [Re: derx]
#7941166 - 01/27/08 04:22 PM (16 years, 5 days ago) |
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W.R. Grace should not get the benefit of bankruptcy, but that's how our corrupt system works. Process tainted products for years that you know kills your employees while you make billions, then when the shit hits the fan, declare bankruptcy and let the taxpayers clean up your mess.
That plant was closed down many years ago. There is no asbestos in vermiculite today. RR
-------------------- Download Let's Grow Mushrooms semper in excretia sumus solim profundum variat "I've never had a failed experiment. I've only discovered 10,000 methods which do not work." Thomas Edison
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No_Life_G33k
Now with 10%less noobness


Registered: 03/08/05
Posts: 356
Last seen: 13 years, 10 months
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Re: Asbestos in vermiculite and corporate greed [Re: RogerRabbit]
#7941451 - 01/27/08 05:24 PM (16 years, 5 days ago) |
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They are still trying to clean up the damage from the tons of tainted verm that was shipped years ago, but the current production should be safe. Check the EPA's site for more info. Verm has a lot of ag/industrial uses today.
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derx
who run it



Registered: 05/29/03
Posts: 2,459
Loc: dx/dt
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Re: Asbestos in vermiculite and corporate greed [Re: No_Life_G33k]
#7942580 - 01/27/08 08:47 PM (16 years, 5 days ago) |
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I know for some reason we stock it in the chemical supply room at the university.
-------------------- better living through chemistry OVERGROW the government!! it's not a war on drugs, it's a war on personal freedom, ok, thats what it is.
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Day Tripper
Got a goodreason, for taking the easyway out.


Registered: 01/27/08
Posts: 198
Loc: Rocky Mountains
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Re: Asbestos in vermiculite and corporate greed [Re: derx]
#7942624 - 01/27/08 08:53 PM (16 years, 5 days ago) |
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Look for a recent certification that their product has been tested.
Thermo-Rock has it.
-------------------- Death is inevitable, and therefore irrelevant, life is optional, and therefore irreplaceable.
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thedefone
deus ex machina

Registered: 10/06/07
Posts: 1,883
Loc: Gondwana
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Re: Asbestos in vermiculite and corporate greed [Re: Day Tripper]
#7942738 - 01/27/08 09:10 PM (16 years, 5 days ago) |
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Libby, Montana got screwed.
Bad!
Money buys power. Even if that money came at the expense of the public. Maybe, especially so. Anyway, that town has been pretty worked over. First the mine closes, which is good for health, but all the money left with it. Now, there are so many people with serious health problems and hardly any recourse. I don't know how people like the ones from WR Grace can sleep at night.
--------------------
I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.
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