It appears that our water department employees have been exposed to asbestos for years in the repair and replacement of our water main pipe. This is not the fault of the employees. They only do as they are trained and told. The fault is with management. At the present time, North Beach Water supplies the management of our water operations with their employee, Bill Neal.
It is common knowledge of the health risks from being exposed to airborne asbestos fibers. The water department is returning to the use of a hand saw in cutting the ac pipe. At present they have been using a power saw which creates airborne fibers. There has been no training or use of safety equipment.
Several employees are and will be trained in the safe handling of these materials. There are State and Federal laws that require a certified, trained employee for this kind of work. If not available, than contractors will need to be hired.
The disposal of ac pipe is highly regulated and violations face expensive fines. It is reported, but not confirmed, that replaced ac pipe was stored in the open air, then buried on site. This is another serious violation that will require digging it up and transferring to a facility that handles hazard materials. It is not known at this time, if Peninsula Sanitation can handle this. A State official is checking into this. This is an ongoing situation that is not fully settled. Bill Neal stated to the Board, that he would have more information at the June Board Meeting.
This could end up being a very expensive situation.
Note: This does not present any health hazard to our drinking water.
Here are several pictures of the exposed ac pipe that have been published on this blog.
Click on each picture to enlarge. Notes the broken ends.
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| 3/10/2017 |
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| 7/29/2015 |
14 comments:
Told ya! Bill Neal doesn't know what the hell he is doing. His experiments with Surfside have been expensive in both the money and health of our members.
This is a very serious matter that could cost surfside many thousands of dollars. Surfside is on the hook for the exposed employees for the rest of their lives. North Beach is also liable as the managing authority. This is just the start of a state and federal investigation. The worst is yet to come.
Just watch now as the surfside cover-up begins with we didn't know and pointing of fingers. No one will accept responsibility. Hang onto your wallets, we are going to be hit again.
If workers were exposed as they removed and disposed of the old water main pipes, anyone living along the streets where the pipes were replaced has also been exposed to the asbestos. A water employee explained to me some years ago that it had been decided that it was okay to bury the old pipes rather than taking the disposal precautions that I found on the internet.
This report leaves out some key information that is presumably yet to be made public - such as the reference to this still in the stages of "settlement". It is inferred that there is a State investigation and pending State action against the HOA, so it appears that once again the BOT has kept information from the membership.
If the pipe is not a danger when in use, then it seems apparent that the asbestos is very stable in the cement matrix it has been made with. Apparently the dust is dangerous when the material is cut or handled, and the restrictions on disposal of all such material is very well known, and has been ignored.
The HOA has probably been in a bit of a catch22, in that disposal has many specific requirements, and trying to dump the material without proper procedures would surely mean big trouble from both the disposal company and the State. On the other hand, leaving the waste pipe dumped on-site of the Waterworks is a public testament that the HOA is ignoring State Law and strict standards for disposal and handling.
Water Dept. employees may not have been exposed enough to do harm, and they don't need Mr. Neil to tell them they should wear breathing protection when replacing this pipe. But this seems to be a lame attempt at sidestepping State requirements, when we are bound to have to fess-up to the truth at some point.
Interesting that the president of the BOT sees the HOA's appeal to the Superior Court about the trivial RV owner "issues" priority, and no expense spared, yet this public health issue, worth the risk of State reprisals.
Rather than negotiate the settlement with the RV owners, we are taking these members to Court to try and ruin them financially. But the HOA is unwilling to be compliant to long existent Asbestos regulations at great risk. Their contentions that RV owners did not comply to shed standards cannot be verified either. it is the HOA that is unwilling to comply in both cases.
This information should be put on the Surf Side Face Book page so everyone can learn about it. Thanks for letting a few of us know about this.
Martin, why don't you just cut and paste the link to this page onto the mentioned facebook page?
While walking my dog, I have passed exposed broken asbestos pipe left laying along the street for days and in some instances, for weeks. There should be a letter sent to all members explaining the risks and their rights. I feel sorry for the picture taker of the pipe. They have documented proof of exposure.
The pipe is not the hazard it is the dust created from the pipe when it is being cut with a power saw and the it is the employees that are in danger.
9:23
Put you name to your comment; George is the one with the information, but I think is would enlighten everyone.
There are why to many rumors in Surf Side, so start by using facts that are as accurate as can be found and don't embellish the rumors whit false lies.
Thank You
Using facts only and no embellishments??
Good luck with that.
The handling and disposal of asbestos is pretty serious. The health risks can be pretty devastating. Just look at the emergency responders to 9/11 after being exposed to asbestos. Granted we do not have that kind of exposure but long term mishandling can still have devastating health effects for employees. It can also be tracked home on clothing and children and pets can be exposed. I wish it was as easy as pouring water on it. The liability is usually attached to who ever is paying the employees that are mishandling it. That would be the board and the Water Supervisor. The picture shows who ever is responsible does not have even basic skills on how to handle asbestos. The number one rule in handling asbestos is to do nothing that causes it to become air borne. If I knowingly exposed employees to asbestos without proper training and protection, I would expect that a criminal action may result.
I agree 3:01
The real outrage is that our young men and women employees were subject to the hazard knowingly. Another individual has come forward with information that substantiates proper disposal was known, but not followed. We have good employees that don't deserve to have their health compromised for whatever reason. No one deserves that. Another person has also come forward with WAC (Washington administrative codes) concerning monitoring those exposed to asbestos hazards. I will be shortly publishing that for the employees.
We are seeing the results of incompetence and the members being willing to accept it because they have deliberately been kept uninformed. It looks like the employees are the ones paying the real price while the members will pay out of their pocket.
Asbestos particles can drift due to air currents. It is not simply the employees who have been exposed.
This is what you get with a volunteer board hiring a well driller to manage a water delivery system for a large HOA.
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