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The Environmental Protection Agency plans to burn a group of asbestos-contaminated, storm-damaged homes in New Orleans at a special incinerator at the St. Bernard Parish landfill in Chalmette. Asbestos removal is an expensive and time consuming process, and the EPA is planning a test to shortcut the regulatory asbestos abatement requirements by incinerating these homes. Air monitoring will be conducted during the test, tentatively scheduled for early April.The Parish Council has conditionally approved the test based on the EPA’s representation that it posed no health risks to Parish residents. But whether the test can go forward also depended on getting an extension on the waiver exempting St. Bernard Parish from standard asbestos abatement requirements. The current waiver allows the Parish to demolish homes without removing asbestos first, so long as materials in the home are first wetted down to avoid the release of asbestos into the atmosphere and all debris is sealed in plastic for disposal. The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality must request the extension from the EPA, but the DEQ has suggested that it may not seek the extension St. Barnard Parish wants.The test was proposed because of concerns that the amount of debris after Hurricane Katrina is overwhelming the available landfill space, but even if the test is successful, it is not expected to be approved in time to deal with debris from the storm. Instead, it could help officials deal with future disasters.For the full story, go to http://www.nola.com