Retired EPA asbestos expert urges people to stay away from Durham blast site
An expert on asbestos who helped advise cleanup crews at the World Trade Center after 9/11 said Friday that she wouldn't go anywhere near the site of a recent gas line explosion in Durham.
The April 10 blast rocked the area west of downtown. A coffee shop owner died in the explosion, and a PSNC employee died of his injuries last week. About two dozen others were injured.
City officials have said they recognize the buildings destroyed by the explosion contained asbestos, but the carcinogen doesn't pose a risk for people who live or work nearby.
"The contractors cleaning up all the debris, they're watering it down and containing it according to regulations and guidelines they've been given from state agencies," Logan Small, security manager for the city, said earlier this week.
Durham County officials issued a news release Thursday to answer common questions about asbestos and cited the state Division of Public Health as saying "the potential for public exposure to asbestos was minimal" following the explosion. The Q&A didn't address possible exposure over the subsequent weeks.
"It may be true. It may be correct. But I can't tell you that from what I'm seeing here," Susan Fairchild said after reviewing the Q&A.
Fairchild worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for 29 years, specializing in asbestos and hazardous air pollutants. She's now retired and living in Kernersville.
She questioned whether state and local officials took samples of settled dust to determine how far asbestos fibers might have spread after the blast or simply monitored the air. Dust samples would provide a better sense of where to restrict activity so the asbestos doesn't continue to spread, she said.
"Don’t allow onlookers and people coming in and out. Don’t have trucks coming in and out and dragging all this dust through the city," she said, noting asbestos fibers can splinter into smaller and smaller fragments, which pose an even greater health problem if inhaled.
Durham officials referred questions about Fairchild's comments to the county health department, and officials there referred questions to the state Division of Public Health. An expert there was out of the office Friday.
The state Department of Health and Human Services provided test results of samples taken after the explosion showing the presence of asbestos in some roofing materials, but the documents didn't say whether any other tests have been done to determine the extent of asbestos contamination.
Fairchild said crews involved in the cleanup of the rubble left by the explosion need to use masks and other protective gear and then shower off at the end of their shifts.
"At the end of the day, these workers should shower and go home [in] clean clothes to their family. Do not bring it home," she said.
For others, Fairchild recommended simply staying away.
"I would not be down at the area where the explosion occurred. I would not be allowing my family to be down there. I would caution anybody who I saw going down there, saying this is not where you want to hang out," she said.
