Cancer News, Treatment and Research

The contractors responsible for the demolition of a 9-story building on Chicago’s North Side failed to do their job correctly, resulting in the release of high levels of asbestos and a subsequent request for a work stoppage, reports a story aired on WTHI-TV 10. According to the story, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) is seeking a court order to stop the demolition of the building, constructed in 1923 and once home to a mental hospital and then a hotel. The agency has asked Chicago Attorney General Lisa Madigan to seek an injunction to prevent the contractors, Zidan Management Group and Dubai Construction, from tearing down the building, which contains a large amount of asbestos materials. The EPA claims that its inspectors discovered that the two companies were not following proper asbestos removal procedures during the initial phases of demolition. In most cases, proper procedure involves safely removing asbestos materials before demolition begins or wetting these same materials before demolition so that fibers aren’t able to be released when the building comes down. The EPA also notes that they had no notification of the demolition and that the companies did not properly inspect for asbestos before work began. Hence, the companies’ negligence led to the detection of unsafe levels of asbestos in the air around the building, which was constructed during a time when asbestos use was quite commonplace. The IEPA now wants a licensed, outside contractor to develop a plan to address the contamination. Airborne asbestos fibers can be quite dangerous. Anyone working in the vicinity of such fibers without wearing proper protective gear, including masks, can inhale the fibers. These tiny, sharp particles can become imbedded in the lung area and cause the formation of cancerous tumors and an eventual diagnosis of mesothelioma .