A large improvement and repair project is to be undertaken at several local waste water treatment plants in Chicopee, Massachusetts. The repairs will cover the waste water treatment facilities themselves, as well as several different water pollution control buildings throughout the city. The Chicopee City Council approved the necessary budget allocations near the end of 2009, taking advantage of surplus in the local sewer budget. The repairs and renovations will include asbestos abatement, that is, the process of safely removing and disposing of building materials containing asbestos fibers.

Asbestos is an industrial insulator that was mined and fabricated throughout the 20th century for use in a variety of industries. In the 1980′s it became widely restricted and regulated by government mandates, due to the fact that it’s hazardous to human health, and potentially fatal. Before the restrictions on its use were put in place, asbestos insulating board, fabric and other asbestos materials were used frequently as an incredibly effective fire retardant and thermal insulator.

Inhaling or ingesting the microscopic asbestos fibers can lead to them becoming lodged in various soft tissues throughout the body. The sites where the fibers come rest inside the body can experience severe scarring, which, over a long period of time can develop into malignant tumors. Mesothelioma, a cancer described by malignant tumors forming on the mesothelium (a soft tissue which surrounds many of our organs), is an incredibly aggressive and incurable cancer linked almost exclusively to asbestos exposure. Mesothelioma kills thousands of Americans every year, often taking their lives less than two years following diagnosis.

Evergreen Construction of Springfield will be handling the portion of the renovation contract that includes asbestos abatement procedures. The contracting company will receive $14,000 to replace the administration building’s floor at the water pollution system control facility. The existing floor is constructed of vinyl tiles reinforced with asbestos fibers, and will be safely demolished and removed before being replaced with newer, asbestos free floor tiles. State and federal regulations require specially licensed contractors to be hired for portions of renovation work that include handling asbestos. These regulations help to protect the health of workers and nearby residents.

Michael D. Bissonnette, the Mayor of Chicopee, is also planning $50,000 in equipment repairs at the local sewer plant. Stanley W. Kulig, the public works superintendent said, “This work represents a proactive maintenance repairs that will prevent the conditions to deteriorate into a larger project.”

A former hospital in Harrison County, Kentucky, will be converted into a new Government Center that will hold many new county offices. The Harrison County Commissioners have selected AML Inc as the general contractor to renovate the hospital complex, and have awarded them a multi-million dollar contract to complete the project.

The former Harrison hospital contains many different kinds of asbestos insulation, now understood to be a serious threat to human health, and will need to have the dangerous substance removed before renovations can continue. Asbestos remediation is a necessary part of many renovation and reconstruction projects in order to keep the construction workers and nearby residents safe from exposure to asbestos fibers that can lead to death. Many industries throughout the United States including construction made use of various products fabricated from asbestos until the late 1980′s when its use was banned due to health concerns. Asbestos was used in many forms such as pressed boards, fabrics, and blown insulation and was often installed in crawl spaces, attics and walls for insulation and fire retardation.

Exposure to asbestos fibers has been shown to cause mesothelioma, an incurable and aggressive cancer that kills thousands of Americans each year. Mesothelioma occurs when scar tissue in and around the mesothelium, a soft tissue which encases many of our organs, begins to form malignant, spreading tumors. The cancer’s prognosis is incredibly poor, with patients often expected to live no more than two years beyond diagnosis. Diagnosing the cancer can be very difficult as well, not only because of its rarity but also because its pre-tumor symptoms resemble those of far more common ailments.

Asbestos must become lodged in the mesothelium in order to become a threat, which normally occurs through inhalation or ingestion of the tiny, needle-like fibers. Most asbestos insulation isn’t dangerous because it’s so unlikely that a building’s inhabitants will be exposed to the fibers; during renovations, however, the fibers are upset by demolition and can become airborne. Specialized contractors, often licensed specifically for handling asbestos, are required by law to perform asbestos abatement in renovation projects that deal with contaminated buildings.

The former Harrison County hospital will have its asbestos insulation removed by the Midwest Services Group, reportedly under contract for nearly half a million dollars. AML Inc will hire other subcontractors to handle plumbing, electrical wiring, and other components of the renovation. James Goldman, president of the Harrison County Commissioners, hopes that the entire project will be complete by January 2011.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has halted Posen Construction’s huge Summerlin overpass construction project based on suspicions that the firm is using an illegal amount of asbestos products in their materials. Areas of the new road in Lee County have been sectioned off with yellow caution tape while members of the FDEP’s crew meticulously inspect portions of the road and the caches of construction materials being used. The FDEP was alerted to the possibility of excessive asbestos use after a large amount of pipes and pipe segments, allegedly made from asbestos, were witnessed being used as filler material in the new road.

Asbestos related diseases have been in the public eye for some time now, and yet many states in the United States continue to encounter asbestos contamination not only in antiquated buildings and homes, but also in new construction projects. Mesothelioma, an aggressive and fatal cancer linked to asbestos exposure, is just one of many threats posed by exposure to asbestos fibers that contaminate air or drinking water.

The United States is one of the last developed nations in the world that has failed to completely ban asbestos. While the Asbestos Ban and Phase Out Rule which called for a complete ban was passed more than twenty years ago in 1989, it was almost immediately overturned leaving America with strict regulations on asbestos use rather than a full force ban. These regulations mean that while it’s legal to use some asbestos products in industrial applications such as road construction, safe practices and strict maximums of the substance’s occurrence in construction have been put into place.

The FDEP suspects that Posen Construction may be using more than the legal limit of asbestos and asbestos products in the Summerlin overfly construction project. The contracting firm has been reprimanded in the past for illegal asbestos use, and were even forced by law to bring one of their work sites and the associated project into compliance with state asbestos regulations just a few years ago.

“If you look in close, you can see the fibers up in here and that’s usually an indication of asbestos,” said the FDEP’s Sherrill Culliver earlier this week, “I won’t be sure until I get my results back. But professionally, we’ve come across this a lot.”

The Summerlin overpass will remain on hold until the FDEP is certain that the construction conditions are safe. If amounts of asbestos are found in excess of the legal limit for this type of project, the firm will face fines and the potential for further legal action.

The historical Fostoria property in Moundsville, West Virginia will undergo asbestos remediation efforts soon, according to city manager Allen Hendershot. The area has been relatively inactive since the glass company was sold off back in 1986 after nearly a century of manufacturing stemware, dinnerware, glass containers and the like. The Fostoria Glass Company was well known for its popular glassware patterns such as the American, Century, Rose and more. Surviving both the Great Depression and World War II, Fostoria manufactured more than 8 million glass pieces annually at its peak, published a magazine about crystal patterns and glassware, and filled orders for notable persons including several US Presidents.

“It hurt our economy when we lost the Fostoria,” said Hendershot, “it had 700 to 800 employees at any one time. So that was a major dent in our employment. The developers on site have taken down an additional five buildings and it’s very visible the change in the site now.”

While asbestos is no longer widely used in the USA and other developed nations, historically it was a popular insulating material used in industrial processes where extreme heat was involved, such as firing glassware. In the Fostoria Glass Company, asbestos fabrics, gloves and other protective wear were used to keep workers safe from burns while pressing or etching molten glass, while asbestos insulation was used to protect furnaces and other parts of the buildings. With the discovery and popularization of asbestos’s hazards to human health, many states require that specialized firms handle the removal and proper disposal of asbestos from old buildings and homes.

Mesothelioma is one of many asbestos related diseases that often haunts those exposed to asbestos fibers in their youth. The cancer attacks the mesothelium, a protective tissue which encases our bodies’ vital organs, and most often occurs in the chest and abdominal cavities. Mesothelioma is aggressive and incurable; its prognosis is fairly dismal, often giving patients no more than about two years to live. Surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy have been known to reduce the symptoms of the cancer in some cases, although they are rarely able to force it into remission.

“We’re hoping to have the preliminary remedial action plan ready by mid-January. We’ll have to submit that to the [Department of Environmental Protection] for approval,” said Hendershot, “but we’re hoping that we’ll be able to keep this process moving quickly now.”