South of the site, the boardwalk is shut down, and a gravel path is for passersby on the left. All photos by Blogfinger.net © June 14, 2019. Click on images to make larger.
This shows the new access from the North End lot across the boardwalk (minus boards) and onto the beach. Note the hazmat suits. © Blogfinger.net
Guards physically prevent anyone from stepping onto the work area. © 2 large shovels agitate the toxic piles. Blogfinger.net
A sign on the fence makes reference to NJ Asbestos Work. Blogfinger.net.
Friday, June 14, 2019. Ocean Grove fire site at the North End:
Two large power shovels are at work moving the debris around and dumping some of it into a dumpster. Undoubtedly that agitation is sending debris particles and dust into the air.
The boardwalk there is closed, and a cinder path, about 20 yards back, is available for bikers, walkers, runners, strollers to go by, back and forth.
Men in white hazmat suits are milling about on the site, and several guards are preventing anyone from going closer than the boardwalk. No workers that I could see are wearing masks.
Boards have been removed from the boardwalk, leaving a sandy access path from the North End dirt lot onto the beach.
There is a sign on the fence which says: ASBESTOS. NJ STATE….. (see photo above)
It is likely that the building wreckage does contain asbestos and probably other toxins as well. Why are the Neptune and/or State health authorities not offering warnings as well as instructions for the public? Should anybody be walking by that site? Do you want your kids biking over there? Today was especially windy.
Workers at or near the 9-11 site were wearing respirators, and we all know about the long-term health consequences of that wreckage.
So far it seems that about 40% of the debris has actually been moved elsewhere, although I wasn’t there all day. I did see two huge dump trucks. Maybe they will be finished within a few days. Then we will observe what happens next.
Paul Goldfinger, MD, Editor @Blogfinger.
Not For……In the absence of hard data, the best I could do was to alert our readers to the risk, but common sense ought to prevail as people avoid that toxic site until all the debris is absent, and the dust settles.
In your comment you say, “The authorities know that the building contained asbestos, and they are keeping people away,” but they only kept people out of direct contact within the work site.
That is not far enough away as far as I am concerned. I have seen homes undergoing asbestos remediation, and they were totally wrapped to shield any spread of asbestos fibers and dust.
I also was surprised that the workers at the site were not wearing masks/respirators—more important than hazmet suits.
And literature should have been given to passersby as well as warning signs on the fence.
I was at Mt. Sinai in New York City right after Dr. Irving Selikoff, of the Mt. Sinai faculty, reported his ground-breaking work on the link between asbestos and mesothelioma and other cancers. He studied 1,000 workers at a rubber factory in Paterson and found a 25% increased cancer risk.
He used to make rounds on the teaching service with his colleagues from the newly founded occupational health center at the hospital and he used to show us xrays of the results of exposure.
I’m not sure what can be done to warn the public to reduce risk, and the best action would be to remove the debris.
Apparently the authorities know that the building contained asbestos, and they are keeping people away. It’s a known health risk, causing mesothelioma. There is no specific amount of exposure that causes the disease. This is also no different than any area where a building is demolished, increasing the concentration of asbestos particles in the air. You can get sick, and it can be very bad.
The real issue here is why the building was rebuilt after Sandy. It should have been demolished then, and there should be an investigation of how the decision was made. That will never happen in Neptune.