(CBS 46 ATLANTA) - A construction project at a local school has upset neighbors. They said workers at the Dunwoody High School renovation didn't properly dispose of asbestos - and they're worried for their children's health.
The problem is the dumpster. The Environmental Protection Agency told CBS Atlanta News it's supposed to be secured with a fence surrounding it so nobody can gain access to the debris.
"What is it you're doing this afternoon?" asked CBS Atlanta News reporter Steve Kiggins.
"That's none of your business," replied an unidentified contractor.
"It actually is my business," answered Kiggins.
Workers with Kidd and Associates Environmental Contractors dodged Tough Questions after a concerned neighbor said hazardous materials weren't properly handled. "Obviously they need to get rid of the asbestos from the school and there's OSHA regulations and ways to do it properly," said concerned neighbor Joe Hirsch. "It doesn't appear that's what they're doing."
Hirsch snapped photographs of contractors throwing away construction debris into a dumpster at Dunwoody high in DeKalb County. Renovations at the school are almost complete, but the way asbestos floor tiles are being handled worries Hirsch. "You can see them just taking shovel-fulls and throwing the debris on top of the dumpster, and it's just blowing around," Hirsch said.
The dumpster sits in the high school parking lot right next to where a school bus drops children off after day camp.
Not indicating anything here regarding the proper disposal of asbestos, but just to assuage your fears regarding the exposure. Back up in Chicago in the 70's, I had worked in a gasket factory for 18 months where without wearing gloves we would cut large sheets of asbestos and its fibers were always flying around the punch press machine shop and now that I'm an old man I still run daily and box on occasion - a very healthy old man at that (news of my ongoing vigor probably comes as dismay to most of Dunwoody as I know it does my long suffering wife).
ReplyDeleteSo, although I do agree that asbestos disposal should be handled within OHSA guidelines, I think to affect one's health deleteriously the exposure has to be more than walking past a dumpster filled with it. And I do have a dog in this fight as my youngest has walked that dumpster path many times, but I'm more worried about her exposure to my lousy role-modeling than that of the asbestos.
I'm not sure a short exposition to asbestos could be much hazardous. I think it's better to have done this work than to stay it in the school.
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