McAlester News-Capital, McAlester, OK

Local News

November 20, 2008

More money spent for asbestos clean up

By John Yates

The bill for removing dangerous asbestos laden materials from the Pittsburg County Courthouse — which is undergoing a multi-million dollar renovation — has topped $170,000.

Pittsburg County Commissioners this week, in their role as trustees of the Pittsburg County Economic Development Authority, approved payment to Environmental Action Inc., a Tulsa company, involved in cleaning up the cancer causing substance.

According to the American Lung Association, through “studies of people who were exposed to asbestos in mines, factories and shipyards, we know that breathing high levels of asbestos fibers can lead to an increased risk of 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.”

Commissioners shelled out more than $29,000 this week as another payment for removal thus topping the $170,000 mark — that still may not be enough.

Pittsburg County Commissioners Chairman Kevin Smith said the company will remain on-call in case renovation workers stumble on more asbestos-laden materials as they work on the decades-old building. The county has a contract for removal that calls for payment based on the square footage of contaminated material removed.

All but one of the payments approved so far have been for asbestos and removal abatement work that the county had previously known about. Commissioners ponied up $23,000 to take care of asbestos found in the area of county commissioners Smith’s and Gene Rogers’ offices.

John Yates is the news director for McAlester Radio. Contact him at 426-1050.

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