Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Demolition at Westgate Mall by Weitz HyVee creates asbestos dust hazard

.


On Saturday, May 19, 2012, the south portion of Westgate Mall was being demolished on a windy day, sending much dust NE into residential areas. 

Since this was the first mall in Madison, built in 1960, some of the construction materials contain asbestos. The dangers of asbestos weren't widely recognized and regulated until the 1970s--asbestos use in the US peaked in 1973.

"Asbestos remains a threat to construction workers. Massive exposures to asbestos occurred among construction workers installing it between 1940 and the mid-1970s and removing it since then. Asbestos is often in old fireproofing, roofing, vinyl flooring, pipe and boiler insulation and some roads and cement-sheet products. Exposure can lead to asbestosis (a disabling lung disease), lung cancer and mesothelioma, a usually fatal cancer of the chest or abdominal cavity lining. Asbestos-related cancers usually do not appear until 20 to 30 years after exposure."  Source


Working with the door open, and no respirator.

A fence has been erected around the site to reduce the winds somewhat, and catch some of the insulation blowing out of the site.  There was a water spray on Friday.  But on Saturday during the work shown above, I saw no water spray to suppress the dust.

According to rankings by the American Lung Association based on EPA data, Madison has the 24th most polluted air of any city in the US (for short-term particulate pollution).

The winds today weren't particularly strong--maximum of 20 mph, and a maximum gust of 28 mph.*   But a windy week followed, with maximum gusts of 50 mph by May 24.

#          #          #

More photos of Weitz/HyVee at Westgate.
Photos of dust at University Crossing site on 5/24 during heavy winds.
Photos of dust at Findorff site on Dayton St. on 5/24/12.
Dust from concrete work at a residence.
Dust from mortar mixing at a Tri-North Builders construction site.
Dust from a MG&E lot downtown, 2011.

*  According to Wunderground data from Middleton
Posted by at

7 comments:

  1. jhonDecember 26, 2017 at 8:06 AM

    The gates for the entry into the area are just sitting there at the moment. The catch point are just inside the gates. privacy fence gate

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousSeptember 2, 2018 at 11:33 PM

    This blog is so nice to me. I will keep on coming here again and again. Visit my link as well.. Budget Asbestos Removal

    ReplyDelete
  3. BURHANNovember 23, 2018 at 5:14 AM

    Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed browsing your blog posts. After all I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon! Click here

    ReplyDelete
  4. Burhan KhatriDecember 13, 2018 at 10:39 AM

    Thank you for some other informative blog. Where else could I get that type of information written in such an ideal means? I have a mission that I’m just now working on, and I have been at the look out for such information. Click Here

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dragon Graphic DesignerFebruary 9, 2019 at 7:52 AM

    Very interesting blog. Alot of blogs I see these days don't really provide anything that I'm interested in, but I'm most definately interested in this one. Just thought that I would post and let you know. https://asbestoscancer.org/new-mesothelioma-treatments/

    ReplyDelete
  6. SEO ExpertJune 20, 2019 at 3:16 AM

    The information you have posted is very useful. The sites you have referred was good. Thanks for sharing.. https://asbestoscancer.org/

    ReplyDelete
  7. Rodney TapleyJuly 21, 2019 at 2:51 AM

    I would like to say that this blog really convinced me to do it! Thanks, very good post. asbestos attorney michigan

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)