Asbestos is an extremely dangerous mineral. Due to this fact, it is heavily regulated in the United States. The city of Hornell is currently looking for ways to help clarify the numerous asbestos regulations in their city in order to hopefully clear up any confusion on the matter.
The current asbestos regulations set in place at the moment state that, “protect the public from exposure to asbestos fibers. This law requires that all work that disturbs asbestos containing materials (ACM) be done by trained workers following special procedures and engineering controls to prevent the spread of asbestos into the air and ensure ACM has been properly removed. The regulation protects people who live and work in buildings with asbestos and the workers who disturb the asbestos. This regulation does not require building owners to inspect for or remove ACM that is present in their buildings. Often it is best to leave ACM that is in good condition alone. However, if demolition or renovation work is to be performed in a building, the owner must first determine if ACM will be disturbed. In order to make this determination, an asbestos survey must be conducted. The asbestos survey must be performed by a certified Asbestos Inspector. If the survey indicates that ACM will be disturbed by the planned project, the ACM must be abated prior to any work being done that would disturb it.”
According to one of the Facilities Mgmt directors of the city, although these regulations may seem clear, they are constantly getting calls stating that something regarding a process involving asbestos has been done not according to code. This is usually true in regards to the mandatory asbestos survey testing that must be done before a demolition is done on a building.
Bud Burdett, Director of Facilities Mgmt stated that, “Anytime a demolition happens, there has to be an asbestos survey,” Burdett said. “Anytime anybody does any type of demolition within the city, it seems like Elizabeth is always getting a call that something wasn’t done right or the proper procedures weren’t followed, the person doing the demo didn’t follow protocol. We’ve tried to keep a good rapport with her. Probably in the last month she got two calls on two different properties. We didn’t have any issues with the properties.”
Due to these problems, the city is currently looking for ways in which they can clarify these restrictions on asbestos and hopefully prevent any type of confusion and problems revolving around the dangerous mineral.