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Asbestos found at former M.R. Bell service station in Canton

Posted 10/11/17

CANTON – An inspection of the former M.R. Bell service station property at 30 Riverside Drive has turned up a small amount of asbestos. “The percentage of asbestos found in some samples is small …

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Asbestos found at former M.R. Bell service station in Canton

Posted

CANTON – An inspection of the former M.R. Bell service station property at 30 Riverside Drive has turned up a small amount of asbestos.

“The percentage of asbestos found in some samples is small but … above minimum limits and will require mitigation. The village is currently obtaining costs for asbestos removal and demolition of the building,” said village Mayor Mike Dalton Tuesday in an email to North Country This Week.

The village and town here are working out a deal with the county and state to acquire the property for redevelopment purposes. The village recently hired Canton-based Atlantic Testing Laboratories, Limited to conduct a site inspection of the above ground structures at the site to look for possible contamination.

Under the arrangement being negotiated to redevelop the property, the municipalities, acting as lead agencies, would purchase the site from the state through an arrangement involving the county for around $7,500. The village and town would demolish the above-ground structures and the state would clean up any below grade contamination. The property, currently in foreclosure, would be cleared of tax liability and the municipalities would be indemnified of any liability for contamination at the site after assuming ownership.

Before the town and village could secure accurate bids for the above ground demolition, however, the presence of any asbestos needed to be determined and, if found, properly disposed of by contractors certified by the state to do so.

According to the 33-page report compiled by Atlantic, small percentages of asbestos were found in the roofing materials of an addition to the original building. Silver roof paint, red roof cap adhesive, roofing shingles, black built-up roofing, and tar paper found in this location contained between 2.2 and 3.4 percent asbestos according to the Atlantic report.

The tarpaper of the roof on the main building also contained asbestos, about 3.7 percent according to the report.

Trace amounts [less than 1 percent] of asbestos were found in interior ceiling panels and some small amounts of the substance were found in some white joint compound in the interior of the main building.

Atlantic collected and tested 38 bulk samples of suspect materials at the site during the inspection. The work cost about $3,300.

Demolition costs of the above ground structures at the former M.R. Bell service station have been capped by the municipalities at $30,000.

The cost of abatement and disposal of asbestos at the site is expected to add to the overall cost of demolition there.

Exposure to toxic levels of asbestos has been shown in cases to cause mesothelioma. For more information, log on to the website of the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance here.