Construction workers are removing asbestos in South Graham Hall– beginning the demolition process of Graham Hall.
But the removal poses no harm to students.
Joe Hitt, assistant manager of Residential Life, said Lee ValleyIndustries Environmental Services currently is in the process ofremoving all of the asbestos-containing materials in South GrahamHall.
Hitt said LVI is the company in charge of removing asbestos inboth North and South Graham as well as demolishing thebuildings.
Howard Ellis, project supervisor for LVI, said there was apre-construction meeting May 26 and the company began workingon-site June 1.
“The plastic [around South Graham Hall] is a part of thecontainment for keeping any of the asbestos fibers from gettinginto the air,” Ellis said.
Ellis said asbestos fiber is a crystal that grows naturally. Hesaid it cannot be seen without a microscope.
Ellis said in South Graham Hall asbestos was used in the glue inceiling tiles and floor tiles, pipe insulation and in thewalls.
Older buildings contain asbestos because it does not burn, so itwas considered fire-proof, Ellis said.
Ellis said asbestos becomes harmful when it gets loose in theair and is inhaled.
Jesse Bourque is an inspector senior technician for AsbestosConsulting Services Inc., a company in charge of monitoring the airin asbestos removal.
Bourque said asbestos becomes loose if the material it iscontained in is broken or begins to flake, but it can be containedagain by permanent sealing it.
“You can’t remove it [from your lungs],” Ellis said. “The moreyou’ve got, the worse you are.”
Ellis said the asbestos in Graham Hall was contained, sealed andposed no harm to students.
The process of removing the asbestos from Graham Hall has strictguidelines, Ellis said.
Construction workers enclose the entire building in plastic andreverse fans pull air out of the building, filtering it throughbefore it is released into the atmosphere, Ellis said.
Workers must scrape or remove the asbestos-containing materialsand dispose them in plastic bags, sealed twice, Ellis said. Theytransport the bags to a dumpster, where they are taken to a speciallandfill, he said.
ACSI, the company that monitors the air in asbestos removal,measures how much asbestos in the air the construction workers areexposed to. One-fourth of the workers are required to wear amonitor to keep track of how much asbestos the workers are exposedto in case they have health problems in the future, Bourquesaid.
ACSI also keeps track of how much asbestos can be released intothe air, Bourque said.
“Today, like everyday, we have five area samples out atstrategic locations,” Bourque said.
Bourque said there is a certain level that is acceptable, whichhas never been reached on this particular project.
Ellis said South Graham Hall should be free ofasbestos-containing materials by July 14, and LVI will beginpreparing North Graham Hall for asbestos removal shortly after.
After each building is completely clear of asbestos-containingmaterials, the demolition of South Graham Hall will begin.
LVI will demolish each building by dropping a wrecking ball intothe top of the building, Hitt said.
Ellis said the construction workers will then clean the sitewith bulldozers to prepare it for the new construction of GrahamHall.
Hitt said the construction should begin during the springsemester.
Construction should be completed by fall 2007, and will onceagain house the Information Technology Residential College, whichwas located in the old Graham Hall, Hitt said.
The demolition of South Graham Hall is scheduled for Aug. 2, andthe demolition of North Graham Hall is scheduled for Sept. 20.
Hitt said Residential Life expects LVI to complete thedemolition by late November.
“It’s going to be noisy and there’s going to be a lot of dust,”Ellis said. “We’re going to try and keep the dust down by usingwater spray. It will be interesting.”
Chris Gonzales, human resources manager for LVI, said theycannot implode the buildings with dynamite as half of the campuswould have to shut down because of the amount of dust.
Ellis said the total cost of the demolition of Graham Hall willtotal around $1.9 million.