The owner of a skip hire company has been ordered to pay £5,048 in fines and costs for storing potentially dangerous asbestos at a site near Salisbury, Wiltshire after the case was brought by the Environment Agency.
On 22 May 2008, Agency officers were carrying out a routine inspection of a waste transfer station when they saw a skip full of cement-bonded asbestos. The skip was in an open yard covered with a tarpaulin.
The site operator, Robert Maidment, was only licensed to handle non-hazardous waste such as wood, plastics and builder’s rubble because the site doesn’t have the facilities to accept consignments of hazardous materials including asbestos. Inquiries revealed the corrugated asbestos sheets had come from a block of garages in Tisbury. Robert Maidment had been paid by a roofing company, the waste producer, to take the asbestos away to a landfill site in Redlynch near Salisbury for safe disposal. Instead he transported it to his own premises in breach of the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2007.
“Because of its hazardous nature, asbestos must be handled with great care and only kept at sites with suitable facilities. The defendant had been warned by the Agency about the illegal storage of asbestos at Stainers Yard, yet chose to ignore our advice,” said Emily Pitts for the Environment Agency.
Robert Maidment, of Clarendon Close, Gillingham, Dorset was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £2,048 costs by Salisbury magistrates after pleading guilty to receiving a skip of bonded asbestos at Maidment Skip Hire on 22 May 2008 in contravention of his site operator’s environmental permit and contrary to the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2007.
Demolition work in the Searles Valley Mineral Plant 170 miles North of Los Angeles has led to back-to-back mercury spills, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Together, the two incidents produced the West’s biggest spill of mercury – a potent neurotoxin – in two decades, said Robert Wise, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on-scene coordinator. He said he has referred the matter to the U.S. Department of Justice for review.
In addition, look out for the next edition of Demolition & Dismantling magazine which will carry an article specifically on the subject of bats and the legislation surrounding their protection.
The controversy over the processing and disposal of “blown foam” which we first covered back in
October of last year continues to rage on as the subject makes the news in the Sunday Herald. It appears that this is one problem that just won’t go away.
Following our recent decision to use Twitter to spread the word about the latest news here on Demolition News, we’re delighted to announce that our number of followers is growing slowly but surely.
The latest to join us is Richard Dolman, subject of an article in our first magazine and newly-elected to the board of the National Demolition Training Group.
Riverseide Environmental's Huw KellettMost people have never heard of Occupational Hygiene until they find themselves having to comply with a HSE Regulation that involves sampling and analysis, surveying, measuring or testing. This month’s blog focuses on the ‘FAQ’s’ of Anthrax!
What is Anthrax
Anthrax is primarily a disease of herbivores (plant eating animals). Humans contract it as a result of contact with infected animals or animal products, or from materials infected with Bacillus anthracis spores (the causing organism).
In humans, the disease takes one of three forms, depending on the route of infection. Cutaneous anthrax, which accounts for more than 95% of cases world-wide, results from infection through breaks in the skin; intestinal anthrax results from ingestion of spores, usually in infected meat; and pulmonary anthrax results from inhalation of spores.
Cutaneous Anthrax Explained
Cutaneous anthrax usually occurs through contamination of a cut or abrasion, although in some countries biting flies may also transmit the disease. The first sign of an athrax infection is a small painless inflamed swelling like a pimple or boil.
Intestinal Anthrax Explained
Intestinal anthrax is similar to cutaneous anthrax but occurs on the surface lining of the intestines where the cells absorb nutrients. As in cutaneous anthrax, the organisms probably invade the lining through a pre-existing cut. Generally disease develops when the organisms spread from the lining lesion to the lymphatic system. This form of the disease is extremely rare Britain.
Pulmonary Anthrax Explained
In pulmonary anthrax, inhaled spores multiply to cause disease that affects the entire body instead of a specific organ. This is an occupational disease encountered in industries in which the workers are exposed to high levels of spores in dust, particularly in the leather and woollen industries.
Gastrointestinal and pulmonary anthrax, although exceedingly rare, are both more dangerous than the cutaneous form because they are usually identified too late for treatment to be effective.
Anthrax in construction and demolition
Animal hair has been used as an ingredient in internal plasters for centuries. The best hair was obtained fresh from the tanners yard. Controls for the prevention of anthrax have existed since 1919; however, there is no guarantee that hair in plaster used before 1900 was not contaminated in the construction industry.
In reality, the risk of developing an anthrax relating infection is low so long as suitable and sufficient risk assessments and management plans are adhered to. A risk assessment is required under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH regulations) and should include but not be limited to:
• Cover cuts and abrasions
• Keep hands clean
• Wear suitable personal protective equipment (e.g. disposable gloves, overalls and dust masks)
• Prohibit smoking and consumption of food and drink
• Ensure plaster is handled and disposed of in accordance with local and statutory controls and dust generation is minimised
• Personnel informed of the risk and the risk management system.
Riverside can recommend a range of procedures designed to effectively reduce the risk of anthrax related infections. For free advice, guidance and to arrange testing of plaster please contact us on 0870 950 0161 or email info@riversideenvironmental.co.uk.
And so it continues. The recession that has claimed countless jobs at manufacturers including Caterpillar and JCB has now bitten a chunk out of Volvo Construction Equipment’s workforce, as UK trade magazine Contract Journalreports.
6 March 2009 is set to be one of the most important dates in the recent history of the National Federation of Demolition Contractors.
The Federation’s Annual General Meeting will take place in London and will herald the inauguration of the NFDC’s new President. The event will also mark the award of the Demolition Operative of the Year award, the Sidney Hunt Snr apprenticeship award, and the Contribution to the Demolition Industry award, as well as the official launch of a new NFDC-backed venture designed to help its unemployed workers find alternative employment within the industry.
Furthermore, the event will feature rugby superstar and man-mountain Martin Bayfield as its guest speaker. The former Rugby Football Player of the Year made his England debut in 1991 and played for the first team until 1998 when he was forced to retire from the game as a result of a serious neck injury. However, during that time, he gained a creditable 31 international caps, playing in the 1992 and 1995 Grand Slam sides. He was also selected for the 1995 World Cup Squad to play against South Africa and was selected for five out of six tests.
To book your place at the NFDC’s all-important AGM, please use the booking form attached. agm-booking-form-2009
In an unprecedented move, the organisers of the Hillhead 2009 exhibition has announced that it has been postponed by 12 months. The quarrying and recycling show, which takes place in Buxton, Derbyshire every other year, is the latest victim of the “adverse economic climate”.
A nice time lapse video showing the demolition and reinstatement of a toll booth in the US. Interesting to note that they managed to keep the traffic flowing, despite the works:
