Reported in today’s news is that asbestos removal is a financial burden to small towns in Colorado. It’s expensive, and funding from the state is limited. Many property owners ignore the health risks and raze or renovate illegally. If you are concerned about your own property, the Department of Public Health and Environment Asbestos Program web site has information on the rules and regulations, contractors, disposal sites, laboratories that identify asbestos in products, and contact information. The following two documents are good places to start, and a search in our online catalog will turn up additional information as well.
Building Renovation and Demolition: What You Need to Know
Asbestos Waste Disposal, April 2007
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The post regarding asbestos in small towns just makes absolutely no sense to me at all. The first mental reaction that I have when reading the first sentence is this; Is making certain that of the folks who may be exposed during the illegal and inappropriate removal of these materials a financial burden???
I would venture to say that medical expenses and loss of Life and Health are far more expensive than the alternatives of appropriate licensing, insurances, certifications, medical evaluations, disposal, and inspections.
Those who consider the appropriate/legal means of abatement to be too expensive have not truly ventured to collect these costs from competitive contractors. It certainly isn’t free however, most residential projects can be accomplished correctly for less than buying a new car, fixing an old one, taking a weeks vacation, a week-end skiing. Many can be performed for less than the cost of a plazma T.V. screen, a new refridgerator, landscape for your home, new carpeting, or new kitchen cabinetry.
I suppose it really depends upon where you place the priority of Life and Health for those that will be physically impacted by the in-appropriate removal methods.
If you are aware of the health effects, then you are aware of the reasons for the regulation of the exposure to it (like lead for example). It is our local and federal Gov’t. that have created the guidlines for how the material is to be removed and handled, and it is our Gov’t that increases the expenses for the work to be conducted. The cost of training, licensing, and permitting for this type of contracting work recently (January 31, 2008) increased by
(10). These expenses will obviously be pushed to the consumer as would the rising cost of milk for example.