The city and the federal Environmental Protection Agency knocked down an asbestos-laden building on Monday using a controversial demolition method.

The demolition at the Oak Hollow apartments on the city's east side was the first test of the new method in a populated area. The city notified the media about the demolition after work had begun Monday morning.

A spokesman for a national environmental group called the test "the height of irresponsibility," but a City Council member defended it.

"The tests have been done a couple of times before. If they didn't feel, from those tests, it was safe to bring into a populated area, they wouldn't be here," said City Councilman Danny Scarth, whose district includes the apartment building.

Only one building, the complexes office building, was demolished. The rest of the complex will be taken down using methods already approved by the EPA.
Dave Bary, an EPA spokesman, said the EPA and the Department of State Health Services agreed not to enforce health and environmental regulations so that Monday's test could take place.

Monday's test is the latest in a long-running national debate over how best to demolish asbestos-contaminated structures. The city wanted to use a similar process to demolish the Cowtown Inn in 2005, but called off that project because of concerns from environmentalists and health officials.

The federal government now requires that asbestos be removed from buildings before they are demolished.

The alternative method used Monday calls for soaking the walls and ceilings with a special foam and tearing down the building with heavy equipment without removing the asbestos. If proven effective, the alternative method would make it much less costly for municipalities across the country to demolish old, crumbling asbestos-laden buildings that attract crime and lower property values.

Critics have said the new method could allow asbestos fibers into the air, endangering nearby residents. They argued last week that the EPA should move the test to an isolated location. Two previous tests have been conducted in relatively isolated areas in Fort Smith, Ark.

"I think it was the height of irresponsibility to proceed with this human experiment in a populated area," said John Walke, clean air director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, a national environmental group. Scott Frost, a trial lawyer associated with Public Justice, said EPA officials' "only agenda is to get their test results."

Demolition work began about 7 a.m. Monday as people nearby walked to school and work on Boca Raton Boulevard. An hour later, an excavator began flattening the building. The EPA had set up rows of air-sampling monitors at the site.

The crews planned to remove about 3 inches of dirt to catch any fibers that soaked into the ground. It would have taken a specially trained crew two days just to remove the asbestos under the old method, said EPA project manager Adele Cardenas Malott.

Terry Lynch, the health hazard administrator for the national asbestos workers union, said there's no way to know whether any asbestos was released. He and other union members have spent the last two weeks lobbying the city and EPA to move the test out of Fort Worth. Asbestos can't be seen, smelled or tasted, and it can cause incurable illnesses even decades after people inhale it.

"I have three friends about my age that have terminal mesothelioma," Lynch said. "We don't want to see anybody -- anybody -- black, white, union, nonunion ... face the heartbreak associated with this sort of disease."

ASBESTOS ABATEMENT:

The issue

The federal Environmental Protection Agency demolished a 2,200-square-foot office building at the Oak Hollow apartments on Boca Raton Boulevard in Fort Worth using a new technique that allows workers to take down the building without removing the asbestos. Normally, workers would seal the building in plastic, filter the air and remove asbestos by hand while wearing protective suits. But that process is time-consuming and expensive.

The new method

It calls for workers to soak the inside and outside walls and popcorn-textured ceiling with a special foam and treated water. The building is demolished with heavy equipment, and the water is contained on site by dirt berms. The top 3 inches of soil are removed after the demolition.

The concern

Leaving asbestos-laden material in the building during demolition creates the possibility of asbestos fibers drifting into the air and traveling far from the site. That could expose many people to asbestos -- a fibrous mineral that can scar the lungs and cause cancer if it is inhaled. Andy Oberta, a respected asbestos consultant in Austin who has followed the issue closely, said he worries about what will happen if this method is approved for use at buildings across the country. "You're going to have contractors that are not going to use the same care they did while the EPA was looking over their shoulders," he said. "They're not going to use this expensive foam. They're going to be out there with a garden hose."

Past tests

Fort Worth officials have been working on the method for about 12 years. The EPA has tested the alternative method twice before on buildings on part of the Fort Chaffee Army reserve base in Fort Smith, Ark. The first test, in April 2006, was deemed inconclusive. A second test is under review.

What's next

The EPA will analyze dozens of air, soil, dust and pavement samples and issue a report by May. The agency will then appoint a panel to review the report and release a final report by the end of 2008.

Source: Environmental Protection Agency