Mesothelioma and Asbestos News

Not over yet: More Marco asbestos found

Despite second cleanup this week at 1.1-acre site of future park at corner of Elkcam and Joy circles, city finds additional asbestos of unknown origin

By Liam Dillon

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Asbestos cleaning on a vacant lot in Marco Island will continue into next week after more asbestos was uncovered, city officials said.

On Thursday, representatives from Fort Myers-based environmental consulting firm American Management Resources Corp. (AMRC) did a surface cleaning of the 1.1-acre site, which is located at the corner of Elkcam and Joy circles and is a future park site.

Jeffrey Hogate, AMRC's on-site leader confirmed that the surface cleanup, as ordered by the city, was finished on Thursday afternoon.

But the city soon found that it was insufficient.

A Marco Island Police Department detective found more asbestos Thursday night, according to Police Chief Roger Reinke. Reinke declined to say whether the detective found the asbestos above ground or had to dig for it, as the site is part of an ongoing criminal investigation.

On Thursday morning, city police initiated an investigation of suspected asbestos planting on the site, which had had an AMRC-certified $83,634 cleaning in April.

City officials visited the site Friday morning to confirm that the asbestos still existed. City Manager Bill Moss estimated that some was as much as 6 inches below the surface. The city phoned AMRC.

"It was quite surprising," AMRC president Jack Snider said Friday. "We got in there yesterday, cleared off the site and then had a call from the city of Marco Island this morning."

City officials will meet with AMRC on Monday morning to determine what else needs to be done. Snider said that, depending on the extent of remaining asbestos, hand tools or heavy equipment may be needed.

"From our point of view, it's an unfortunate situation," Moss said. "But it's not a crisis."

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, airborne asbestos fibers, which can result when material is damaged or disturbed, can cause significant health problems. None of the material on the site appeared to post an immediate health risk, city officials said.

City spokeswoman Lisa Douglass said the city is considering securing the site, possibly with a wooden fence.

"We don't want any accident, intentional or unintentional by mistake, to occur on the site from now on," she said.

Meantime, Ed Foster, the former chairman of political action group Citizens Advocating Responsible Environmental Solutions (CARES), visited the site many times in the past two days.

Foster, whose series of e-mails with Douglass led to the current investigation of the site, said that he found underground asbestos Thursday night and his friend Diane Spencer didn't have to dig too deep to find more Friday morning.

"She wasn't getting her piano hands 6 inches into the ground," Foster said.

Foster said he met with Jon Iglehart, director of the South District of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, on Friday afternoon to discuss the issue.

"I think the city ought to get DEP involved," Foster said.

As of Thursday, the DEP said it would support the city police investigation, but did not indicate it would be involved in the cleanup, said Elijah Fleishauer, a DEP spokesman.