State Fails on Asbestos Inspections

No one in Savannah has been charged under the Asbestos Safety Act since 2005. Everyone could be obeying the law but the State of Georgia doesn’t know because they don’t do regular inspections anymore.
 
When heavy machines began rolling over the old Chao’s Restaurant two Saturdays ago, Pat Strickland was suspicious. She’s been following the work along Montgomery Street, behind her home very closely and knew they didn’t have a demolition permit. She became worried after bricks began falling on the CAT bus stop just outside the construction fence. “We got very concerned because people were walking over there but nobody seemed to care.”
 
While she called a number of city staffers, nothing was done to halt construction until Monday. The city issued a stop work order because, as Pat believed, they did not have a valid demolition permit from the city. The episode prompted a terse exchange between WSAV Community Reporter Paul Rea and City Citizen Office Director Susan Broker.
 
 “These people apparently started demolishing a building without a city permit,” says Rea, frustration obvious in his voice. “What is going to happen to them?”
 
“Well,” Broker begins, “there is going to be a fine placed on them…”
 
Rea interrupts, “how much?”
 
“They will have double the fees associated with this,” She explains, “Additionally I would point out Paul that we are no longer going to issue a site demolition permit without having building clearance.”
 
So Pat’s complaints resulted in about a $200 fine and a change in city policy early last week but by Thursday, crews were back at work at the site after city engineers issued the demolition permit.
 
Again, Pat expressed concern. This time because the documents presented to the city to get the permit were from 2007, meaning the company failed to notify the state 10 days prior to beginning demolition. Part of that state requirement is to provide for asbestos removal prior to tearing a building down so Pat called the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. “Goodness me,” she says, “there's been an awful lot of dust in the air and I'm concerned about for myself as well as for others.”
 
The Federal, State, and City of Savannah governments recognize asbestos as a dangerous substance blamed for cancers in those who inhale loose fibers. Federal and State environmental laws are designed to make sure that asbestos is removed from buildings before they are demolished because the pulverized fibers can create a public health risk.
 
Pat thought it would be the city’s job to keep neighbors safe, but the City of Savannah points upwards to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division as the enforcement arm. That surprised Pat, “I guess I'm confused. I thought the city was going to look into asbestos before they issued a demolition permit.”
 
It is EPD’s job; all the city requires is that contractors notify the state. But a WSAV investigation found that no one from any government actually checks to make sure the asbestos is removed. The agency recently removed inspectors from its Brunswick office and since 2005 no one in Chatham County has been charged under the Georgia Asbestos Safety Act.
 
Head of the State of Georgia’s Lead-Based Paint and Asbestos Program, Robert M. Gwin, tells News 3 that Pat’s concerns prompted him to send an inspector to the site at Montgomery and Oglethorpe on Friday. Gwin says the project is in violation of the law for not notifying the state of asbestos abatement 10 days before beginning demolition. Work resumed at the site after the inspectors visit but the final report is not yet done and fines and other punishments are yet to be determined. He says the contractor did file an asbestos notification in October of 2007 but Gwin does not know if asbestos was actually removed before the heavy equipment turned the building to dust.
 
The episode may prompt even more changes in local ordinance as Susan Broker explains, “Anytime a citizen has concerns about city policy we take that very seriously and the city followed the policy as it reads. Do we need to go and look at that and determine if there is another level of scrutiny that needs to be put into place? Absolutely.”