Debris From City Buildings to Be Tested for Asbestos

An inspector from the Air Quality Management District, following up on complaints about possible asbestos contamination from city-owned buildings being demolished in Lawndale, said Friday that the agency will test debris taken from the site for asbestos content.

Michael Haynes, an AQMD air pollution specialist, inspected the site Friday where three city-owned houses had stood, on 167th Street at Osage Avenue, after two people complained to the agency that material they believed contained asbestos was being removed from there.

The buildings, in the old city yard, had been used to store surplus city material, from old tractor tires to city Christmas decorations to inoperable city vehicles, city officials and residents said.

Neighbors Complain

One of the complaints was filed by Anthony Reed, whose mother and sister live next door to the yard. Reed said the city did not take sufficient precautions to prevent dust generated by the demolition from drifting downwind into neighbors’ homes.

He said he had collected several pieces of a siding material Tuesday that city workers had separated from other debris and placed in 55-gallon drums near a wall separating his property from the city’s.

Reed, who provided pieces of the mint-green material to the AQMD, said he was told by a city employee working at the site that it contained asbestos.

“I’d like the city of Lawndale to make some kind of determination, whether it’s medical people or a private agency that checks for asbestos,” Reed said. “Unless they prove to us we’re safe, I may take (legal) action.”

Haynes said that AQMD chemists will test the material and that a report on its content would be issued next week. If material containing asbestos is found in connection with demolition at the site, the city could face a citation and a fine, Haynes said.

Although Haynes said he could not confirm whether the material contained asbestos, he said it appeared to be a type of siding, no longer in use, that often contains asbestos, which has been known to cause cancer.

“When they remove it, they should take precautions not to break it up,” Haynes said. The material Reed said he took from the drums was broken into several pieces.

The problem arose when city officials attempted to expedite the razing of the buildings, which Public Works Director Jim Sanders said had become an eyesore and a source of complaints from residents.

After the city opened a new city yard on Manhattan Beach Boulevard east of Inglewood Avenue, the three old houses at the old city yard fell into disrepair and attracted vandals, residents said.

“It was ugly; it was terrible,” said nearby resident Debbie Larratt. “I was glad they tore it down, but I wish they’d told us before they did it.”

When a contractor who had won a bid to knock down the three buildings failed to show up to do the job, Sanders said, the city canceled his contract and decided to do the job itself, using city employees and a rented crawler loader to haul debris into large bins at the site.

Sanders, who learned how to operate a loader when he was in high school, said he worked at the site himself after city employees completed their regular workday at 2 p.m.

Sanders, who has worked for the city since April, said city officials hoped to clear the lot for $4,800 or less, the contractor’s estimated cost for the demolition.

Material Being Checked

Sanders said workers separated some concrete siding from other demolition debris but said he did not know if it contained asbestos.

“We’re checking it out,” Sanders said.

City Manager Jim Arnold said he and Sanders, who is a civil engineer, had inspected the site before the city began tearing down the buildings and found no evidence that the buildings contained asbestos. In the past, he said, if asbestos was found at a building slated for demolition, the city has hired specially licensed contractors.

“I think we’ve done the best we can,” Arnold said. “I’ve seen a lot of demolition by private contractors, and we’re doing a good job.”

City Councilwoman Carol Norman, who called Sanders “well-qualified” to oversee the project, also defended the city’s actions.

“If there was asbestos there, it was overlooked in the pre-inspection,” said Norman, adding that Sanders is “a very conscientious young man, and I believe he probably realized he could save the city (money) by doing it himself.”

Norman said Lawndale’s budget cuts over the past three years may have been a factor in Sanders’ decision to take on the job.

Sanders said the last of the debris was scheduled to be cleared from the lot Monday. One use for the lot under consideration is as a park, officials said.

Sanders said Reed is “trying to make an issue out of something that’s merely a minor issue. The major issue is getting this place cleaned up.”