TMCnet News
Tainted debris remains at construction site(New Haven Register (New Haven, CT) (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 20--NEW HAVEN -- The state Department of Public Health has confirmed that a pile of construction debris still outside 1175 State St. contains asbestos, but investigators believe the material does not pose a danger to the neighborhood. Investigators from several state, federal and city agencies, including the federal Environmental Protection Agency's Criminal Investigation Division, swept the site in June, following workers' allegations they had been using ice chisels to remove asbestos from the building without masks or proper ventilation. Workers also said piles of asbestos-tainted debris had been left unsecured outside, and that immigrant workers were sleeping on cots inside the building and working through the night to bag and remove the contaminated material. Workers had been removing old tiles and clearing the former Universal Hotel Liquidators site for new tenants since February. Jacquelyn Holiday, a state Department of Environmental Protection case investigator, said the DPH has confirmed that the building material left contains asbestos, but building owner State Assets LLC has not yet removed the pile. "DEP informed them they had to cover it with plastic ... but they have to come up with a plan for how to get rid of it," she said. Holiday said the material does not pose a danger to those nearby. "If you were to pick it up, tear it apart and expose the fibers, that would be an issue. But just seeing it on the ground, standing over it, and trying to breathe it in, no," she said. "I would worry if it was more in the form of piping insulation." The pile remains covered next to the building while State Assets determines how to appropriately discard the tainted material, she said. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has an open investigation into the case. State Assets principal Joshua Guttman could not be reached for comment, and his attorney, Bruce Bergman of Hartford, had no comment. While project manager Aryk Ben-maim said his company had tested the site and found no asbestos, court and city Building Department records show State Assets had tested the site in 2003 and found asbestos in the tiles and roof of the building. Contractors are required to notify the health department within 10 days of removing asbestos. State Assets did not, records show. City tests of the site have also been positive for asbestos. While the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based firm secured city permits for some of the work at the site, inspectors also found electrical and plumbing work for which no permit was obtained. After the worker complaints, the city found five cots on the second-floor of the factory, and issued a cease-and-desist order to State Assets regarding improper use of the factory as a residence and for any further work at the property. "As far as I know, they are not working," Holiday said. "I drove by there yesterday afternoon. ... I like to keep an eye on my projects." To see more of New Haven Register, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.nhregister.com. Copyright (c) 2008, New Haven Register, Conn. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |