Asbestos Removal Supplies
The best thing to do with material that contains asbestos is to leave it alone if it is in good condition. If you are not sure, you can get it inspected. If removal is the best option, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends having a qualified, state-licensed contractor do the work. Asbestos removal is dangerous work. Therefore, safety is a top priority.
Supplies needed for asbestos removal depend upon the scope of the work, but there are several common elements.
Build an Enclosure
Build a containment area in order to prevent asbestos fibers from escaping into other parts of the house or building. Cover and seal all surfaces that you want to keep clean and asbestos-free, including the floors. Use duct tape and rolls of thick plastic sheeting.
You will need a special entrance and exit to keep asbestos fibers inside while workers move in and out of the enclosure.
Have a fire extinguisher handy because plastic sheeting is flammable.
Larger projects may require the use of a fan with a HEPA air filter attached to the containment.
Put up signage, cautioning people to stay away from the area while work is in progress.
Personal Protection Equipment
All workers will need protective clothing and equipment to keep the fibers off hair and clothes, to avoid inhalation of asbestos fibers and to keep asbestos confined to the work area.
Proper respirators with HEPA filters should be worn, as well as Tyvek protective coveralls and rubber boots. The EPA also recommends eye protection and gloves.
Removal Tools
Standard demolition hand tools, such as knives and crowbars, are used to remove asbestos. Workers use the tools to cut away and remove asbestos-containing material such as floor tiles, pipe insulation and popcorn ceilings. Electrical power tools are usually not used because of the dust they produce and the potential shock hazard they pose. The goal is to produce as little dust as possible. Consider using water sprayers to minimize dust.
Clean-Up
Use thick plastic bags to deposit the asbestos waste. Wipe down all the tools with a wet rag, and then dispose of the rag. Double-bag all the asbestos waste, and seal the bag with duct tape. Clean or dispose of your clothing, and dispose of the cleaning rags. Workers, for personal cleanup, use specially contained showers.
Dispose of asbestos may only at an approved landfill that accepts asbestos waste. Check with your state regulatory agency for more information.
To Remove Hazardous Waste…
Hazardous materials removal workers identify, remove, package, transport, and dispose of asbestos, radioactive and nuclear waste, arsenic, lead, and mercury—or any materials that typically possess at least one of four characteristics
- ignitability
- corrosivity
- reactivity
- toxicity.
These workers often respond to emergencies where harmful substances are present, and are sometimes called abatement, remediation, or decontamination specialists. Increased public awareness and Federal and State regulations are resulting in the removal of hazardous materials from buildings, facilities, and the environment to prevent contamination of natural resources and to promote public health and safety.
Hazardous materials removal workers use a variety of tools and equipment, depending on the work at hand. Equipment ranges from brooms to personal protective suits that completely isolate workers from the hazardous material. Because of the threat of contamination, workers often wear disposable or reusable coveralls, gloves, hardhats, shoe covers, safety glasses or goggles, chemical-resistant clothing, face shields, and devices to protect one’s hearing. Most workers are also required to wear respirators while working, to protect them from airborne particles or noxious gases. The respirators range from simple versions that cover only the mouth and nose to self-contained suits with their own air supply. Recent improvements to respiratory equipment allows for greater comfort, enabling workers to wear the equipment for a longer period of time.
Asbestos and lead are two of the most common contaminants that hazardous materials removal workers encounter. Through the 1970s, asbestos was used to fireproof roofing and flooring, for heat insulation, and for a variety of other purposes. It was durable, fire retardant, corrosion resistant, and insulated well, making it ideal for such applications. Embedded in materials, asbestos is fairly harmless; airborne as a particulate, however, can cause several deadly lung diseases, including lung cancer and asbestosis. Today, asbestos is rarely used in buildings, but there are still structures that contain this material that must be remediated. Similarly, lead was a common building element found in paint and plumbing fixtures and pipes until the late 1970s. Because lead is easily absorbed into the bloodstream, often from breathing lead dust or from eating chips of paint containing lead, it can cause serious health risks, especially in children. Due to these risks, it has become necessary to remove lead-based products from buildings and structures.
Asbestos abatement workers and lead abatement workers remove asbestos, lead, and other materials from buildings scheduled to be renovated or demolished. Using a variety of hand and power tools, such as vacuums and scrapers, these workers remove the asbestos and lead from surfaces. A typical residential lead abatement project involves the use of a chemical to strip the lead-based paint from the walls of the home. Lead abatement workers apply the compound with a putty knife and allow it to dry. Then they scrape the hazardous material into an impregnable container for transport and storage. They also use sandblasters and high-pressure water sprayers to remove lead from larger structures. The vacuums utilized by asbestos abatement workers have special, highly efficient filters designed to trap the asbestos, which later is disposed of or stored. During the abatement, special monitors measure the amount of asbestos and lead in the air, to protect the workers; in addition, lead abatement workers wear a personal air monitor that indicates the amount of lead to which a worker has been exposed. Workers also use monitoring devices to identify the asbestos, lead, and other materials that need to be removed from the surfaces of walls and structures.
Transportation of hazardous materials is safer today than it was in the past, but accidents still occur. Emergency and disaster response workers clean up hazardous materials after train derailments and trucking accidents. These workers also are needed when an immediate cleanup is required, as would be the case after an attack by biological or chemical weapons.
Some hazardous materials removal workers specialize in radioactive substances. These substances range from low-level-contaminated protective clothing, tools, filters, and medical equipment, to highly radioactive nuclear reactor fuels. Decontamination technicians perform duties similar to those of janitors and cleaners, but the items and areas they clean are radioactive. They use brooms, mops, and other tools to clean exposed areas and remove exposed items for decontamination or disposal. Some of these jobs are now being done by robots controlled by people away from the contamination site. Increasingly, many of these remote devices are being used to automatically monitor and survey surfaces, such as floors and walls, for contamination.
With experience, decontamination technicians can advance to radiation-protection technician jobs and use radiation survey meters and other remote devices to locate and assess radiated materials, operate high-pressure cleaning equipment for decontamination, and package radioactive materials for transportation or disposal.
Decommissioning and decontamination workers remove and treat radioactive materials generated by nuclear facilities and power plants. With a variety of handtools, they break down contaminated items such as “gloveboxes,” which are used to process radioactive materials. At decommissioning sites, the workers clean and decontaminate the facility, as well as remove any radioactive or contaminated materials.
Treatment, storage, and disposal workers transport and prepare materials for treatment or disposal. To ensure proper treatment of materials, laws enforced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) require these workers to be able to verify shipping manifests. At incinerator facilities, treatment, storage, and disposal workers transport materials from the customer or service center to the incinerator. At landfills, they follow a strict procedure for the processing and storage of hazardous materials. They organize and track the location of items in the landfill and may help change the state of a material from liquid to solid in preparation for its storage. These workers typically operate heavy machinery, such as forklifts, earthmoving machinery, and large trucks and rigs.
To help clean up the Nation’s hazardous waste sites, a Federal program, called Superfund, was created in 1980. Under the Superfund program, abandoned, accidentally spilled, or illegally dumped hazardous waste that poses a current or future threat to human health or the environment is cleaned up. In doing so, the EPA along with potentially responsible parties, communities, local, State, and Federal authorities, identify hazardous waste sites, test site conditions, devise cleanup plans, and clean up the sites.
Mold remediation is a new aspect of some hazardous materials removal work. Some types of mold can cause harsh allergic reactions, especially in people who are susceptible to them. Although mold is present in almost all structures and is not usually defined as a hazardous material, some mold—especially the types that cause allergic reactions—can infest a building to such a degree that extensive efforts must be taken to remove it safely. Molds are fungi that typically grow in warm, damp conditions both indoors and outdoors year round. They can be found in heating and air-conditioning ducts, within walls, and in showers, attics, and basements. Although mold remediation is often undertaken by other construction workers, large scale mold removal is usually handled by hazardous materials removal workers, who take special precautions to protect themselves and surrounding areas from being contaminated.
Hazardous materials removal workers may also be required to construct scaffolding or erect containment areas prior to abatement or decontamination. In most cases, government regulation dictates that hazardous materials removal workers be closely supervised on the worksite. The standard usually is 1 supervisor to every 10 workers. The work is highly structured, sometimes planned years in advance, and usually team oriented. There is a great deal of cooperation among supervisors and workers. Because of the hazard presented by the materials being removed, work areas are restricted to licensed hazardous materials removal workers, thus minimizing exposure to the public.
James Cameron Jumps into Oil Spill Mix
The film director who created an idyllic unspoiled world in the movie Avatar will meet with deep-ocean experts Tuesday in Washington to pitch ideas about how to stop the ugly oil spill now spreading in the Gulf of Mexico.
James Cameron is expected to attend the meeting with fellow Canadian Phil Nuytten, an underwater innovator and the head of North Vancouver-based Nuytco Research.
It’s not known what the two swashbuckling Canadians – who first met when Mr. Nuytten’s company, Nuytco Research, built the submersibles used in Mr. Cameron’s 1989 underwater thriller The Abyss – will bring to the discussion.
But as the environmental disaster in the Gulf continues to unfold, it seems the idea behind the session is to put every possible solution – including use of manned submersibles – on the table.
“This is not about undermining or finger-pointing at [British Petroleum],” Jeff Heaton, Nuytco’s long-time chief pilot and the veteran of dozens of salvage and research dives in manned submersibles, said Tuesday in Vancouver.
“Everybody’s working hard and it’s not for lack of trying that [the spill] hasn’t been stopped.
“It’s about looking at all the what-ifs – if this fails, if that fails, what happens.”
With the failure of the so-called “top kill” effort to plug the leak with mud, BP has moved on to a plan that involves cutting and removing a damaged part of the crippled Deepwater Horizon drill rig and putting a cap over the cleanly cut pipe. If successful, that approach would help stem the flow of oil while the company drills two relief wells, which are expected to be ready some time in August.
Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill’s Impact
The spill’s impact stretches across 150 miles
Oil has pushed at least 12 miles into Louisiana’s marshes and two major pelican rookeries are now coated in crude. Brown Pelicans, removed from the federal endangered species list 6 months ago, are in danger of being killed because of the spill.
Instead of capping the leak, BP has used a mile-long tube to siphon oil, which has been virtually ineffective in quelling the leak. Amounts of oil BP claims to be siphoning continue changing, revealing that BP has underestimated the total amount of oil and gas that continues spewing unabated.
Some estimates put at least 6 million gallons of crude have polluted the Gulf Coast, though some scientists believe the spill has already surpassed the Exxon Valdez disaster. Actual figures are probably a lot higher.
The Obama administration continued defending their response to the crisis while criticizing BP. Some officials considered some drastic measures for cleaning the oil — like burning or flooding the marshes — but may have to wait and let nature take its course.
The spill’s impact now reportedly stretches across 150 miles, from Dauphin Island, Alabama to Grand Isle, Louisiana. As the oil spill grows each day, so does anger with the government and BP. Stopping the leak may not happen until a relief well is dug, which could take a couple more months.
Barbara Boxer (D-CA), head of the Senate’s environmental committee, asked the Justice Department to determine whether BP had made false and misleading claims about preventing a serious oil spill and Justice Department officials have been in the Gulf Coast region gathering information about the spill.
Oil Cleanup Workers Report Illness
On Wednesday, The Los Angeles Times reported that fishermen hired to cleanup BP’s mess were coming down with nausea, severe headaches, and breathing problems after working in waters contaminated by the nation’s worst oil spill.
George Jackson, 53, has been fishing since he was 12 and took a BP cleanup job after the massive oil spill forced the closure of fisheries and left him unemployed. As he was laying containment booms Sunday, he said, a dark substance floating on the water made his eyes burn.
“I ain’t never run on anything like this,” Jackson said. Within seconds, he said, his head started hurting and he became nauseated.
Like other cleanup workers, Jackson had attended a training class where he was told not to pick up oil-related waste. But he said he wasn’t provided with protective equipment and wore leather boots and regular clothes on his boat.
“They [BP officials] told us if we ran into oil, it wasn’t supposed to bother us,” Jackson said. “As far as gloves, no, we haven’t been wearing any gloves.”
Following up on the LA Times report, Propublica noted that BP continues to use a dispersant called Corexit, which has been tied to human health problems in the past. BP continues to use Corexit despite a deadline imposed by the EPA directing the oil company to stop using it.
Ott told the Times that the illnesses for cleanup workers were “déjà vu … What we saw with Exxon Valdez was a parallel track — sick animals and sick people. Harbor seals were looking like they were drunk and dying … and autopsies showed brain lesions….What are we exposing these poor fishermen to?”