The city of Fort Worth, Texas along with the EPA, plan to use a controversial method to demolish an asbestos-contaminated building without first removing the asbestos materials from it. Instead, the building will be sprayed with a foaming material to try to minimize dust during the demolition and the building will be knocked down. The debris will all have to be disposed of as “asbestos-containing” material and the surface of the ground beneath removed to minimize remaining asbestos contamination. This method is much cheaper than the traditional and accepted method of removing asbestos before demolition. But it is still considered experimental. After the EPA’s first test of the method, the agency concluded that the amount of asbestos released by this method was not a health concern, which prompted reviewing scientists to express concern about “a research bias or hidden agenda.” The results of the second test, also in an unpopulated area, are still being reviewed and a final report has not been issued. The EPA admits that it has not done a health risk assessment of the “Wet Method,” but officials insist that it is safe–even in this heavily-occupied neighborhood. The planned demolition on Wednesday, December 12, would be the first test of the method in a residential area.
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