Specialists contain asbestos during school demolition
(CNS): The education ministry has confirmed that specialist contractors have been hired by government to deal with the asbestos inside an old school building on the John Gray High School Project site. Following concerns raised by parents and people living in the community around the building, which had been home to the CIFEC campus, where the asbestos was identified and demolition work began this week officials said, it was being undertaken, “in strict accordance with an agreed method statement approved by DEH.”
The Vertex Companies LLC, which the ministry said was a leading provider of environmental consulting, industrial hygiene, and remediation services, has been retained by the contractor to manage the remediation process.
Exposure to asbestos and the dust can cause asbestosis, cancer and mesothelioma. The work has also begun during lung-cancer awareness month. But officials said that there was no danger that dust would be released into the area.
“Based on the approved method statement, which outlines safe handling, delivery and disposal of waste, there is no potential danger of asbestos dust in the area,” a ministry spokesperson told CNS following our inquiries and explained the details of the asbestos abatement work.
The plan includes a fully sealed work space during the removal of asbestos, the placement of asbestos abatement material into double sealed bags, cleaning of the work area with a Hepa vacuum and wet cleanup, air monitoring and disposal of sealed debris in designated areas at the landfill.
Air monitoring will also occur during and after the asbestos removal work to document the successful removal of asbestos containing materials. Sampling will also be performed in accordance with the United States Environmental Protection Agency Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) requirements and will consist of Phase Contrast Microscopy analysis of air samples.
The asbestos was discovered during a pre-demolition inspection almost two years ago but was considered safe until the material was disturbed when the demolition started. The facility is being demolished as part of the redevelopment of the John Gray High School campus and the broader government school estates off Walkers Road.
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Category: Local News
Caymanians have live in it and died in this asbestos $#%@ Look at how many buildings have been demolished around this place.
“Air monitoring will also occur during and after the asbestos removal work…”
Who will do the monitoring? THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION.
Who will be collecting the samples? Samples collection is more complex than one might think. There are multiple pages manuals with guidelines and procedures to follow. ..
It is NOT what the Cayman International School does every time after the Dump fire to declare that all surfaces indoor and outdoor and air are safe for students to come back.
Remember it takes 5-15 years for cancer to showup or a neurological condition to develop and unless someone independent monitors the testing, any testing, and it is properly documented, each procedural step, no one would be able to connect the deadly diseases or congenital abnormalities of a newborn to asbestos removal or Dump’s fires.
Read DEH response 🤦🏻♂️to see what they can do. I doubt much has changed since 2018
https://cnslocallife.com/2018/09/emissions-incinerators/
“Based on the approved method statement, which outlines safe handling, delivery and disposal of waste, there is no potential danger of asbestos dust in the area,” a ministry spokesperson told CNS…”
There is ALWAYS potential danger of the work being done properly.
While they are here they can knockdown the glasshouse as well and ship it off island with a few politicians inside it.
And the courthouse
just dump on top of mount trashmore…its the caymankind way!
welcome to wonderland.
I was trained in AHERA protocols and was a CIH – Certified Industrial Hygienist who used both PCM and TEM microscopy to assure safe levels during asbestos removal projects. I was on contract to the U.S. government.
I am glad to see AHERA protocols being used. That means that at least one person from elsewhere was trained to adhere to it. Therefore, I think the government is doing all that is necessary to do the demolition in a safe and responsible manner. Most likely the asbestos was bound up in asbestos-containing floor tile. It is REALLY difficult to produce a measurable release in this situation. I am glad to see PCM testing. Phase Contrast Microscopy tests on-site ALL fibres, and can conclude that if ALL fibers are below the PEL (Permissible Exposure Level), then certainly asbestos fibres are much less. It was stated that they will be using U.S. EPA levels, which also includes OSHA levels. Our background level on our streets from old clutch and brake linings probably produces a higher count than in the facility.
I was worried about this, but not now. I have no affiliation with this or any other CIG project. Just an underutilised resource.
I’m more concerned about JohnJohn crashing into that excavator
Specialist? Here? Hehe
Couldn’t these buildings of national historic significance have been saved or relocated to another site? Where was the National Trust?!
I have been advocating for some years now that they do this to the “Glass House”, don’t demolish it but make it the home for the National Museum! Surrounded by parkland it would a natural “attraction” for one and all! Meanwhile, most of the items that are ready for display are hidden away in the “archives” behind Pasadora Place!
clearly you’re not aware of the deadly black mold and god know what else lurking inside that building. no thank you.
Well, please inform us of the measurable test results in your possession. Since you are ‘aware’.
They would definitely have the floorspace to display all the unread consultation reports of the last 30 years. What a museum that would be.
“Specialists contain asbestos during school demolition” and drive it straight to the top of the dump!
You are an idiot!
Another nail in the coffin of our heritage
Asbestos has been used the World over in construction until the 80s
Yup, lost my virginity in that sixth form room.
gross.
She kinda was, looking back.
hahaha
Be interesting to see who owns The Vertex Companies LLC.
Perhaps they can now demolish the asbestos riddled glass house..?
There shouldn’t be a lot of friable asbestos down here. Friable means ‘able to crush with moderate hand pressure.’ This is in the AHERA definition. Friable = easier to air-entrain. Most friable asbestos was in either sprayed-on fireproofing, certain types of dropped ceiling panels, sprayed-on accoustical celing or pipe lagging. No pipe lagging here, because no boilers. No need to heat things up, right?
We get our building materials from the U.S. As of 1984, asbestos-containing building materials (ACBM) were no longer being allowed to be produced. The friable ACBM was supposed to not be sold after 1986, but one might suppose a few warehouses that sent materials. It would have been difficult to export them.
If the ‘specialists’ were using the AHERA methodologies and using PCM sampling, they were not allowing the dumping of friable materials. Nonfriables are dealt with differently.
The specialist(s) were likely to come from the U.S. I don’t know even a fraction of them personally, however of the 200 or 300 AHERA/NIOSH/NIH colleagues I’ve known, none of us would have taken on a monitoring job without control of the project, and none of us would have allowed careless or irresponsible disposal of hazardous materials. Most likely the specialists are required to pay for and carry a several million dollar surety bond in order to be in compliance to do their jobs.
Wait until someone starts poking around the Post Office.
point is methoselioma will show up 10 to 20 years after exposure…parents…when it happen to your kids…u will know where it probably came from..asbestos exposure
I am all for conspiracy theories generally but many of us went to school every day in those same buildings 30-40 years ago and we still here and breathing just fine.
Just in case you’re not aware. Asbestos is fine if it’s not disturbed, but once any renovation or repair that’s how its released into the air.
Like when that debris gets piled unsorted onto the landfill pile and gets “lit on fire”. Never an air quality test when you need one.
Friable asbestos. Perfectly safe until you break it into pieces. Which tends to happen during demolition.
You were not there when the buildings were torn down and the excavation dust was present. My industrial experience, there is no way they can contain 100% of the toxic dust.
More likely to get tetanus from that fence.
Mesothelioma is a hardening or calcification of the lung lining. What you are think of is asbestosis, which is caused by the small fishhook-like asbestos fibres impinging in the alveoli of the lungs, and eventually causing scarring of the lungs.
Both are bad. Both are mostly a product of continual severe exposure to friable asbestos.
What is reallly going to grind your gears is when you do a little research and discover that clutch and brake linings and brake pads still contain asbestos, especially those of diesel trucks or large trucks. hmmmm. Now, if the pads wear away……… where do those fibres go?
sure, I trust Government with this.
look how well they’ve dealt with the dump.
I wonder how long before the first lawsuit.
You were not there when the buildings were torn down and the excavation dust was present. My industrial experience, there is no way they can contain 100% of the toxic dust.
With Ju on it, it has a 100% failure potential. Clowns ruling the circus. But HEY – Cayman electorate, you elected them, now you get to reap the sad, sad results – I will care less for future grievances as this is the reality you voted for… again, and again, and again!