Asbestos Halts Demolition of Florida Condo Tower

Asbestos Halts Demolition of Florida Condo Tower - Owners Face Modest Fine

WEST PALM BEACH - The city of West Palm Beach has yet to decide on the amount of a fine it may impose on the owners of a hurricane damaged condo located at 1515 S. Flagler Drive. At issue is the fact that workers had begun to tear down the asbestos contaminated structure without first obtaining the required permits, as well as using improper asbestos abatement procedures at the site. Asbestos has been classified by the EPA as a known cancer-causing agent, and strict state/federal regulations apply to the handling and disposal of the extremely toxic material.

City officials have publicly stated they are less concerned with garnering a substantial fine than they are in finally seeing the removal of the 30 story structure that has been abandoned ever since it was badly damaged during a hurricane in 2004. Doug Wise, who is Construction Services Manager for the city, declined to speculate on the amount of the fine, but it is not expected to be in the thousands of dollars range that can result from similar types of asbestos abatement violations.

Owned by Trinity Development Group (TDG), the building is, allegedly, coated with a stucco material that contains asbestos, though, TDG contends the level of asbestos in the stucco is so low it can use controlled demolition to implode the building safely. Palm Beach County Health Department officials have maintained that stucco asbestos levels are high enough to prevent the use of implosion demolition, and are analyzing additional stucco samples from the building to confirm its current assessment.

Asbestos is a naturally occurring silicate mineral that is characterized by a number of highly desirable properties. While asbestos exists in a variety of chemical compositions, types, and colors, all forms of asbestos share the common attributes of being nearly fireproof, highly resistant to damage from moisture, mold or chemical corrosives, having superior thermal and electrical insulating properties and more. Because of its unique and useful nature, asbestos found its way into countless industrial and household products during the first half of the 20th century.

In the early 1970s, health experts concluded that certain types of exposure to asbestos posed a significant threat to human health. Experts agree that asbestos is most dangerous when it is crushed, which can result in the release of microscopic asbestos fibers into the air. Once inhaled, these fibers can remain trapped in the lungs for decades before finally causing the onset of serious respiratory diseases, including the most dreaded - malignant pleural mesothelioma, an aggressive and incurable form of lung cancer. Needless to say, due to the dangers from airborne asbestos fibers, health and other West Palm officials want to be sure that the South Flagler Avenue condo building is torn down in a way that will not jeopardize the health of demolition workers or members of the general population.

The problem is, workers had already begun to tear down the structure, but were soon halted in their labors when nearby residents alerted city officials to what had been occurring at the site. TDG's owners had begun demolition work because they're anxious to begin the construction of a $150 million luxury tower at the location. Proper asbestos abatement procedures at the site will obviously cost TDG time and money, with time being the developer's primary concern - significant delays prior to construction could result in the expiration of city zoning permits that had been difficult to win.

On April 22, TDG representatives met with city officials to resolve the issues surrounding the project, with all sides having reported a constructive session that included members of the West Palm Beach fire, police, construction, zoning, and emergency management departments. A follow up meeting is scheduled for May 1st, at which, the issue of penalty fines and all other matters will hopefully be resolved.

Source: Palm Beach Post

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