An Open Letter From Castlegate Development UPDATED

The following was submitted as a comment, but I believe it deserves its own post. Again, I am embarrassed to admit that I live in a community that counts garbage cans, but pays little attention to environmental hazards and toxins.

This is a member of Castlegate Development. I just want to let you know we really do appreciate that you care and we feel for you, too. We know Mt. Lebanon Commission is a dead end, but we will continue to show up. We are still seeking environmental groups in Allegheny County to help us and we continue to work closely with ACHD, our councilperson and her office, and every politician who will listen. We are worried not only about lead-
bad enough, right? But a hundred years ago, asbestos was also used in paint, and we worry about that, too, and whatever other nasty hundred year old toxins might remain.

These buildings are/were immediately across the street from our homes, separated by about fifty feet. In addition to the pollution we've had to breathe in for over a month while they demo-ed without water or without enough water, at one point laughably using a garden hose (!) the debris of the multiple buildings has been sitting everywhere on the lot for over a month, as well, drying out in the sun, settling in with the land, polluting our air further every time the wind blows. Our houses and yards and cars are covered with soot, dust, insulation, no matter how many times we clean them.

We believe the next phase of the demolition is this: With Mt. Lebanon's approval, once this part of the demo is finished, if the debris is removed without environmental safeguards as the demo was done, we will have another exposure event. Or--a potentially even more dangerous and likely scenario, Residential Resources, Sota Construction/Green Construction (who wins awards for being green!!!), will have Continental Enterprises or some other low budget company dig out all the bricks, mortar, walls, cement that have been dropping into the basement foundations during demo or left in tremendously large piles all across the land and they will move and pollute and grind everything up in grinders on site--again releasing even more toxins into the air and earth and environment--and then use them as fill on this lot. Unbelievable. All this directly across from where people live.

Already two neighbors have had a son and a daughter with pneumonia since this started, another kid has epilepsy, previously well controlled, and her seizures have increased. 10 out of the 12 closest homes have had continuous headaches and/or lung and eye and nose and respiratory symptoms. Another neighbor who is due to give birth any day has been told by her doctor that it's probably not safe for her to stay here. Yet, this is where we all live. All this approved by Mt. Lebanon Commission and backed by their demo permit. They could rescind the permit. Residential Resources could fire the whole lot of them. Sota Construction/Green Construction could make sure basic safeguards are in place and/or fire Continental Enterprises. But none of them have shown the least bit of concern in our month long pleas for safety. They didn't even put up tarps until less than a week ago, after a month of exposure and we offered to buy and hang them ourselves! Instead, the whole group of them all prove that their own agendas and profits mean more than human lives or air or earth.

And then get this-- after all this is over--three more buildings remain-- awaiting funding for another round of demo and then clean up. And they'll get the funding. You know they will, just like we know it. They are poisoning our neighborhood and poisoning our kids, and then they will do it all over again, just like they did to yours with that turf. They don't care. I don't know how they sleep at night, the whole lot of them. Sorry for taking up so much space on your page. Just to let you know, even if it's not worth much of anything, we stand with you, too. Neighbor to neighbor.

Update April 14, 2017 5:50 PM Keith McGill strikes again. In the PG's Mt. Lebanon hears concerns about toxic dust at demolition site, 

Mt. Lebanon manager Keith McGill said the municipality doesn’t have air quality requirements as part of its demolition permitting process.

I'm confused. We just tore down almost half the high school, and we don't have air quality requirements?  

Once Upon a Right To Know

Blog reader Pam Scott filed an open record request concerning the asbestos abatement at the high school.  Pam asked me to post this on Lebo Citizens.

Now the School District is saying that "a legal review is necessary to determine whether, or to what extent, the records sought are public records subject to access." I have requested copies of documentation that is clearly covered by AHERA because it is part of the District's asbestos management plan: the survey of asbestos-containing material locations that MTLSD gave to Allegheny County Health Department ahead of the current high school renovation project; any further documentation regarding inspection of Building D for hazardous materials "proving" that Building D's 1970s portion "slated for imminent demolition work" [turned out to be March 8, 2012] is free of ACM; and District-wide asbestos fiber-release episodes for 2011 and 2012. The District knows they are wrong and in defiance of AHERA, and they seem to be quite proud of it. The EPA Region III Acting Asbestos Coordinator this afternoon suggested that I urge MTLSD to contact her regarding their AHERA responsibilities.

Communication about Asbestos Abatement

I just uploaded the Construction Manager Update podcast on Lebo Citizens.  Thank you, Director Larry Lebowitz for stressing the importance of communication during the process. Emails are going out to parents concerning asbestos abatement.  Posti apologized to Mr. McFeeley for what she had posted on her blog in regard to asbestos abatement. Five percent of the asbestos abatement will be done during the school year.

Precision, the asbestos abatement company, is out of Cleveland (Independence) Ohio. There was some confusion as to the full name of the company, since only "Precision" was listed on the bids.  It was confirmed that it is Precision Environmental of Independence, OH.

Preparing for asbestos abatement?

The Feb. 10 CM Update on Monday on Posti's Center Court Blog includes:

This week, the contractor began cut and fill work, demolished the tennis courts and developed the site layout of caissons and utilities.  Next week, we anticipate installing a separation wall in the Gold Gym, preparing for asbestos abatement in the wrestling room, mobilizing the demolition contractor and continuing placement of site fencing.  If you have questions and can't make our meetings, PLEASE contact High School Principal Brian McFeeley for answers. He is the primary point of contact for questions, rumors and concerns related to the project and is doing a great job communicating with parents, students, neighbors and the Municipality about the construction schedule and associated changes to parking and traffic.

The EPA requires schools to appoint an asbestos management coordinator, called the "AHERA designated person" to be responsible for a number of asbestos-related activities, including the implementation of the plan for managing asbestos-containing building materials (ACBM) in the school buildings and compliance with the federal asbestos regulations.

The School District is required to provide notification about asbestos activities to workers, students, parents, teachers, and short-term workers. To my knowledge, the District has not provided the required notice.  Our children are in class, folks. Or am I just being petty?

Update February 12, 2012 1:30 PM Here are a few more government links that have asbestos abatement information.
Asbestos in Schools
PA Department of Environmental Protection Asbestos Information

Can you pass the test?

I wonder how many of the District people managing the project (e.g., the AHERA Designated Person) could pass the short exam in the first pages of the AHERA Designated Person's Study Guide.

How to Manage Asbestos in School Buildings: AHERA Designated Person Study Guide

Do tin hats fall under the same category as hazmat suits?

http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/airwaste/aq/asbestos/docs/AHERA_ssg.pdf

Anyone hear of AHERA?

I didn't until today. AHERA stands for Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act. According to the AHERA Study Guide - How to Manage Asbestos in School Buildings,

 The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires local education agencies (LEAs), to designate a person, the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) designated person (DP), to be responsible for a number of asbestos-related activities, including the implementation of the plan for managing asbestos-containing building material (ACBM) in the school buildings and compliance with the federal asbestos regulations. EPA staff have observed that the quality of school asbestos programs depends heavily on the dedication and work of the AHERA DP.

This crank and would-be politician is actually concerned with students' and staff's health and safety. Since nothing was mentioned about asbestos abatement during the high school renovation update at Monday night's commission meeting, I got even crankier. Has someone been designated as the AHERA DP? Where are the walls being knocked down and the plastic going up? Teachers, I know some of you read this blog. This is affecting your health too. All that commotion about ceiling tiles falling in the Activities Office, the picture of the leaking pipe, the "20 pound chunk" that fell from the ceiling in the auditorium.  Where are you people?

http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/airwaste/aq/asbestos/docs/AHERA_intro.pdf

Construction timeline revealed at Commission Discussion Session

Last night, Dr. Ron Davis presented an update concerning student parking, a timeline of construction and answered commissioners' questions.  Here is a link to the discussion session. It is the first item on the agenda. 02 06 12 Commission Discussion Session

The construction timeline is as follows:
Contractors are localizing. For the remainder of this semester, MOST of the work will be occurring outside of the current high school building.  Construction of the athletic building (on the tennis courts site) and the new science wing (grassy surface in front of the swimming pool) will be the starting point.
Summer and throughout the course of the next school year, work will continue on the athletic building and science wing. SOME of the work will be inside, renovating the Fine Arts Theatre and one floor at a time starting with the sixth floor in Building B.
The next school year should include completion of the Fine Arts Theatre, sixth and fifth floors renovation. Work will continue with renovation of the fourth and third floor.  Demolition of Building C will occur during the 2014-15 school year.

A couple of questions:
When will the asbestos abatement occur? A concerned parent informed me that their child reported that walls are being knocked down and plastic is going up.  Is this going to be another example of hypocrisy like having the students park on Washington Road, Main Entrance, and Jefferson while the adults park on site?

Further in the discussion, several commissioners addressed concerns about on street parking, line painting, and the confusion about whether Horsman Drive will be closed or open. Commissioner Fraasch noticed that a 2010 document said nothing about Horsman Drive closing.

I spoke with a Main Entrance Drive resident who told me that neighbors are gridlocking Main Entrance by parking their cars in front of their houses to block students from parking.  But according to one resident on Main Entrance, a relative of a school official, everything is delightful. Of course.

I find it curious that the athletic building and science buildings are going up first.  If the high school is in such abominable shape, why begin there?  Is it so that when the money runs out, the referendum will be necessary for the kids' safety?  How could we vote no? It is for the kids.

More on the asbestos bids

There has been some confusion over the asbestos bids.  Since the School District website listed "Precision"  as the company awarded the asbestos abatement bid, a resident was kind enough to forward the contact information and full name of the three asbestos abatement companies who were the lowest bidders in the bidding process.  "Precision" ended up being the lowest responsible bidder. 

The School District website also mentions the glass-enclosed bridge (architect's drawing here) as well as the announcement of the groundbreaking ceremony.