Document x1rJMX4e5jjKNk45xBw61ORwQ

JAN. - FEB. - MARCH 1990 VOLUME 3, NUMBER 1 ASBESTOS FLOOR TILE: THE POLISH IS OFF (MMG) Baltimore -- Reacting to an investigative feature by a Washington, DC television sta tion, the United States Environ mental Protection Agency has prepared a Guidance Document concerning the maintenance of as bestos containing floor tile. WRC-TV, Channel 4 in Wash ington, in a three part series aired in late November, charged that the EPA has paid little or no atten tion to the hazards of stripping wax from asbestos containing floor tile. During these reports, WRC re vealed the results of tests it com missioned on asbestos floor tile in a vacant classroom provided by Stripping and polishing asbestos contain ing floor tile can cause fiber release. The EPA has prepared a new guidence document outlining safe handling procedures. the Montgomery County, Mary land School System. The station reported that it conducted three different tests depicting typical methods used by actual school janitors for stripping and buffing floor tile. Following each test, WRC stated that the resulting fibers per cubic centimeter ranged from 0.02 to 0.08. The industry and EPA standard for clearance, following an asbestos project, is 0.0 i fibers per cubic centimeter. But, despite this standard, the 0.02-0.08 levels found in WRC's tests are still under the legal "Action Level" of O.lf/ccset by OSHA. Despite these results, the EPA still disputes the validity of WRC's tests and states that they were not typical of the methods used by ac tual school janitors. "They [WRC] mis-represented the issues," said Sean McElheny, a spokesman for the EPA. "They used a highly abrasive stripping pad, which is much stronger than those nor mally used, on an unwaxed, un wet tile." McElheny did go on to state, however, that the EPA has not ef fectively communicated adequate handling procedures for asbestos containing floor tile, which until the recently prepared Guidance Document was limited to the following sentence in the EPA's "Purple Book" (Guidance for Con trolling Asbestos-Containing Ma terials in Buildings), "Do not strip or braid floor tiles containing asbestos." Floor tile, unlike insulation and many other asbestos containing building materials, is not consid ered to be friable because it can not be crushed, pulverized, or re duced to powder by hand pres sure. For this reason, it has not (SEE TILE, page 2) D 0001010 * 1V/TARC0R n*| T lwvw IN WAKE OF THE QUAKE: MARCOR RESPONDS (MMG)San Francisco-- As the citizens of Northern California, began the difficult task of repair ing the damage caused by last October's devastating earthquake, asbestos became a major concern for many building owners in the Bay area. American Airlines faced anespecially sticky dilema with its SuperBay hangerat San Francisco's International Airport, as asbestos insulationprevented structural en gineers from examining four steel towers which supported the building. In order for the towers to be ex amined for structural integrity, which the airline wanted done be fore it allowed its employees to re turn to work, the insulation had to be removed from the towers. MARCOR, which has done work for American in both Los An geles andSan Francisco, responded to this emergency situation with six crews pulled from fourofthe eight MAR COR operations. The San Fran cisco and Los Angles offices, whose serv ices were already in demand due to other earthquake related emergencies, each supplied two crews, while the New York and Delmarva op erations supplied one crew each. Each operation was made responsible for one of the four towers and the entire project was directed by two MARCOR Project Managers and eight Six crewsfrom four different MARCOR operations worked around the clock to remove asbestosfrom the four main towers ofAmerican Airlines' Super Bay Hanger at San Francisco's International Airport following the Bay area earthquake last October. MARCOR Certified Supervisors. Super Bay towers, allowing the Working ten consecutive structural engineers to examine 20-hour days, the MARCOR the hanger without fear of fiber Crews were able to clear all four release or asbetos exposure. NEW SCAQMD RULE REQUIRES WRITTEN DEMOLITION NOTIFICATION IN CA * On January 1, the California South Coast Air Quality Manage ment District put into effect Rule 1403 - Asbestos Emissions From Demolition/Renovation Activi ties. This rule specifies work prac tice requirements for demolition and renovation activities and the associated disturbance of asbes tos containing material (ACM). Under Rule 1403, demolition or renovation operators are required to notify the AQMD Office of Op erations in writing 10 days prior to any renovation work conducted on 100 square feet or more ofACM, or any type of demolition work, including buildings which do not contain asbestos. This rule, among other things, also governs clean up procedures, record keeping, and training, as well as waste stor age and disposal requirements. Rule 1403 , which lowers re portable notification amounts for friable and non-friable asbestos containing material in Califor nia's South Coast Region, is much more stringent than current NESHAP regulations. Failure to comply with this rule, which has also eliminated all phone notifications except in defined emergency operations, may result in a penalty of up to $25,000 per day. Any questions concerningRule 1403 canbe posed to the SCAQMD at 818-572-6283. D 0001012