Asbestos reached its peak between the years of 1965 and 1975. According to an expert senior engineer named Jamey Ehrman, “The typical period of time needed to remove asbestos from a building is a week or two on average, but one of my projects lasted six months. It was a late-1960s building. Those are the most notorious.” In New York, since the 1880s, asbestos was supposedly a very useful and harmless building material that was conveniently also fire resistant. It is used in all parts of buildings down to the insulation in these buildings. But as many things do, asbestos has a downside. It is a known carcinogen and although it was banned in 1990 still has limited use permitted in the US and many other countries. Friable and non-friable asbestos are both dangerous but very different. The friable asbestos type can be easily broken apart and released into the air where it can stay for a long time. The non friable type is tougher and therefore it cannot be easily released into the air. In order to work on a location, it needs to be tested and approved to be asbestos free. The cost of this is typically only between $75 and $250. If there is asbestos there are two possible outcomes. If there is only a small amount of asbestos, typically there is no need to be filed within the database of the Departments of Environmental Protection at the city and state level on the condition that the abatement is done by a licensed professional. If there is a level that is above regulation, they must notify the public and begin abatement procedures. Although the whole process of asbestos abatement is expensive and long, it is always a necessary evil to keep asbestos from becoming a life threatening issue.