Think you know football (soccer)? Then come join our Fantasy Premier League.

With the new Premiership football season due to start in just a few days, and a new opportunity for my beloved West Ham to put me through the usual nine months of rare highs interspersed by all-too-frequent lows, we are once again launching our Demolition Fantasy Football League.

Slightly embarrassingly, we actually won our own fantasy league last year; which just goes to show that we’re better at choosing players than we are at choosing teams.

We have already done the initial hard work, and we’ve even put an imaginary £100 million into the kitty to allow you each to select the players you expect to excel in the new season. All you need to do is hit the following link, select an appropriate kit, team name and your players and we’re off.

Join the Demolition Fantasy Football League. Use the code 1190958-249097 after picking your team to join my league. http://bit.ly/ahompN

£113,500 in fines for seven companies prosecuted over illegal handling of asbestos.

A contracting company has become the latest to fall foul of an asbestos abatement crackdown by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) into a site in South Lanarkshire. Doonin Plant Limited pleaded guilty last year to disposing of controlled waste in a manner likely to cause pollution of the environment or harm to human health.

“The company was disposing of a large amount of waste and showing scant regard for the legislation designed to protect human health and the environment. In addition to the serious potential damage to the environment, offences like this take business away from legitimate companies which ensure waste is treated appropriately and all appropriate licences are in place,” says Tom Inglis, SEPA’s acting director of operations. “Waste offences in Scotland are a problem, and one that SEPA is determined to tackle through operations such as this. The operation that brought these seven companies to court is one example of the kind of work we are doing, as is our work to reduce the number of fly-tipped tyres in the West of Scotland, which is already showing good results.”

“SEPA aims to be a firm but fair regulator, working with people to ensure they understand the regulations that apply to them, and simplifying the system where we can. The flipside of this “better regulation” approach is that when prosecutions are necessary, the fine levels must operate as a real deterrent. I therefore welcome the decision in this case, and note the comment made by Their Lordships, that a fine in a case such as this should be large enough to ‘bring the message home’ to companies that ‘the statutory provisions designed to protect our environment must be taken seriously,” adds SEPA chief executive Campbell Gemmell. “We will continue, through our close working relationship with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and indeed with the Police and other partners as necessary, to ensure that environmental crime is dealt with in a robust manner in accordance with our Enforcement Policy.”

Five other companies also pled guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court, on various dates, to depositing controlled waste on the site when no waste management licence was in force:

* C.E.P. Demolitions Limited – fined £7,500 on 29 September 2009.
* JCJ (Demolition and Construction) Limited – fined £2,500 on 15 February 2010.
* George Hunter (Demolishers) Limited – fined £6,000 on 4 March 2010.
* E. Nicholson & Sons (Metals) Limited – fined £2,250 on 16 March 2010.
* St Andrews Demolition & Construction Limited – fined £2,250 on 16 March 2010.

Read more here.

Fabio Bruno Construcoes pulls off a neat triple implosion.

Here at Demolition News Towers, we’re always excited when we receive an email from Fabio Pinto. Not only is he a good friend to Demolition News, his emails usually mean that he has just imploded something and has the video footage to prove it.

And his latest email was no exception. This weekend, he oversaw an impressive triple demolition at Vicente de Carvalho in Rio de Janeiro, taking down a pair of 90 metre chimneys at a water tower. Take a look.

Summer edition of Demolition & Dismantling is available to read online NOW.

The Summer 2010 edition of Demolition & Dismantling, the magazine of the National Federation of Demolition Contractors, is available to read online now:

Former Controlled Group employee Colin Hiscock is growing frustrated.

Welcome to Episode 3 of Diary of a Workseeker in which we’re following former Controlled Group employee Colin Hiscock as he attempts to find himself a new job.

In this latest episode, Colin admits that he is growing frustrated and that he has started to look beyond the demolition sector for possible employment. But he also has some words of encouragement for his former colleagues at Controlled as they too seek employment opportunities.

Council seeks contractor to demolish a 29-storey block of flats on Tyneside.

Derwent Tower, in Dunston, Gateshead – which is nicknamed the Dunston Rocket because of its shape – was built in 1973, and has been plagued with problems such as damp. Gateshead Council plans to redevelop the site and hopes work will begin before the end of year.

The 85 metre (280 feet) tall tower block of 196 flats is now empty. Former residents had to put up with low water pressure in the taps and lifts frequently breaking down. The council plans to replace the tower and its 116 adjoining maisonettes with new homes and shops.

A spokeswoman for the council said: “Because of its structural complexity, Derwent Tower will not be demolished with explosives but will be carefully dismantled.

Read more here.

Winning bid comes in a full half million dollars below budget price.

Demolition of four idle buildings on the site of the Paulsboro port project will begin in the next few weeks, according to Gloucester County Improvement Authority officials.

AP Construction, of Blackwood, was awarded the contract for the demolition work at a GCIA meeting Thursday afternoon.

GCIA Administrator George Strachan said this is “the next logical step in construction.”

An empty warehouse, maintenance building and cement structures are included in the demolition. Strachan said the demolition should begin in the next few weeks and is slated to end by spring.

Dirt is still being brought into the port area as a foundation. Strachan said permits are being finalized and once that goes through, general construction efforts will move more quickly.

“The Port of Paulsboro is starting to take shape and we will be looking to bring a general contractor on before the end of the year,” said Freeholder Director Stephen M. Sweeney.

The contract was awarded for $2,056,600 and is being funded by a bond from the South Jersey Port Corporation. Strachan said he’s “pleased” with the amount, since it was more than $500,000 below the construction cost estimate.

Read more here.

EPA to cite firms for violations in Zanesville High School demolition

Concerns raised about demolition operations at the old Zanesville High School site have led to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency getting involved.

Contractor Maiher Demolition of Carroll, as well as Dow Cameron Oil and Gas Drilling Co., will be receiving a notice for violating Ohio EPA rules on disposal.

A dust complaint against Maiher also was logged Thursday with the Ohio EPA’s Southeast District Office in Logan, and Spokeswoman Erin Strouse said two inspectors would be looking into the issues.

“Our Division of Air Pollution Control inspector has been in touch with Maiher Demolition regarding the dust complaint and will be conducting a follow up inspection,” Strouse said. “Our Division of Solid Waste inspector will be sending Maiher Demolition and Dow Cameron Oil and Gas Drilling Co. a notice of violation for illegal disposal.”

Read more here.

Kestrel chicks hatch at Marchwood demolition site

Two chicks have hatched from a kestrel’s nest which halted the demolition of a former waste plant.

Hampshire County Council suspended work in June at Marchwood, near Southampton, after the nest was found.

Two chicks have now hatched from the five eggs in the nest and are doing well and already venturing out, the county council said.

They will be monitored closely and, once they have all left, work will restart at the site.

Read the full story here.

Factory demolition stalled over asbestos fears.

The owner of a former West Virginia pottery factory is at odds with state environmental regulators over the demolition of crumbling buildings that contain toxic asbestos.

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has gone to court to bar contractor Nick Masciarelli from demolishing the former Taylor Smith & Taylor pottery factory, contending that he has refused to remove the asbestos properly, according to a report in The Charleston Gazette.

Masciarelli, who purchased the property about 18 months ago, with plans to demolish the buildings, said he can’t remove the asbestos the way that state environmental regulators want because the crumbling factory buildings are dangerously unstable and unsafe for his workers to enter. A hearing is scheduled on Aug. 24.

Read the full story here.