The Saginaw News reports that crews demolishing a building in Saginaw, Michigan, discovered asbestos covering the structural steel.
Removal of the asbestos from a onetime shopping mall called the Saginaw Centre will add an estimated $800,000 to a project already budgeted at $4.8 million.
According to the report, the Saginaw Centre was built in 1972, at a time when asbestos was commonly used for fireproofing. Use of asbestos as a building material has since been banned.
Breathing high levels of asbestos fibers is linked to lung cancer; mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the chest and the abdominal cavity; and asbestosis, in which the lungs become scarred with fibrous tissue.
The report quotes Ryan Londrigan, an official with the company charged with overseeing the removal of asbestos, as saying that it’s very labor-intensive.
“It’s very common in buildings from that time period,” Londrigan said. “We find it in almost every building we survey.”
The Saginaw Centre demolition is part of a larger project to create parking space for an entertainment venue in downtown Saginaw.
According to the report, the necessity of removing the asbestos will force the project planners to scale back in other areas, in order to compensate for the cost overruns.
In addition to the cost overrun, the asbestos abatement has pushed back the schedule for completing the project.
If you or a loved one have contracted mesothelioma as a result of asbestos exposure, contact Lopez McHugh for a free consultation.
See the story here:
https://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2012/09/asbestos_discovery_adds_about.html
