Holbrook Dormitory Demolition Contractor Is Fined

By Linda Kor
   An Albuquerque, N.M., contractor has agreed to pay a $225,000 penalty under a consent judgment for asbestos air quality violations that occurred during the 2007 demolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs school dormitory in Holbrook, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and Arizona Attorney General’s Office announced last week.
   In May 2007, a subcontractor for Gerald A. Martin Ltd., a New Mexico corporation, began demolition of the dormitory after the building had reportedly gone through an abatement process for the presence of asbestos and a quantity had been removed.
   After demolition of the facilities had begun, the subcontractor discovered within the debris materials that he believed contained asbestos.
   At that time the demolition came to a standstill as the Holbrook Fire Department was called in to wet down the debris to ensure that it would not become airborne, and thus become a potential hazard. As a precautionary measure, Holbrook High School canceled a football game and the area surrounding the demolition was cordoned off.
   The explanation provided by the project supervisor at the time of the incident was that there was asbestos still on the site that had gone undetected during the abatement process.
   On Aug. 29, 2007, the ADEQ responded to the incident by issuing an order of abatement to Gerald A. Martin Ltd. requiring compliance with state and federal asbestos air quality requirements.
   According to information provided by ADEQ, the contractor consulted with ADEQ on measures to reduce the health risks associated with the removal of the contaminated debris.
   Following that consultation, Gerald A. Martin Ltd. reportedly spent more than $900,000 handling and disposing the asbestos in the demolition debris in accordance with approved procedures. All of the demolition debris was removed by Nov. 7, 2007.
   In a related event, concerns of a local citizen regarding debris disposed of near West End Park that contained concrete remnants of the debris from the dorm demolition were reported to ADEQ for investigation of possible asbestos contaminants.
   City Manager Ray Alley stated on Jan. 29 that a report recently provided by ADEQ indicated that there were no violations in regards to that debris. Alley stated, “The investigator said that he found only small traces of asbestos, nothing that indicated any violation.”