More asbestos than expected pushes Hangar One work behind schedule
Hangar One, the Navy-owned historic airship hangar at Moffett Field in Mountain View, California is destined to be dismantled, but delays keep cropping up. The interior demolition crew found more asbestos than initially figured, so the plan must be amended to account for additional asbestos abatement. Meanwhile, a group of preservationists are using the delay to lobby for the preservation of a cork room once used to store airship gas cells. The room has porous cork walls about five inches thick and dust was noted in the natural crevices. The restoration advisory board plans to ask the U.S. Navy to preserve the entire room in place unless it is contaminated by asbestos. Asbestos is a toxic substance that can cause serious illnesses like asbestosis and mesothelioma.
Outside, the fate of a pair of burrowing owls that make their home near the building has come into question. The species is designated as a species of special concern by the state. In an effort to protect the owls, the construction fence has been moved on the advice of a NASA biologist.
The hangar dismantling schedule has been delayed about two months over the asbestos issue but the demolition company expects to demolish the interior structures beginning in October and take down the outside walls by next spring.
For the full story, go to San Jose Mercury News.
