Panel focuses on removal of tainted mulch

By GINA KINSLOW
Glasgow Daily Times

MUNFORDVILLE November 04, 2008 11:29 am

— No elevated asbestos levels have been noted in samples taken from the 20 to 25 businesses and residences located within an 800-foot radius of where the Independent Tobacco Warehouse stood in Horse Cave, according to Kerry McDaniel, Hart County’s director of emergency management.
He was among several specialists at a town hall meeting in Horse Cave on Monday night addressing the contaminated mulch and how people should handle it.
“Those individuals within the 800-foot radius currently are the immediate concern,” McDaniel said.
The perimeter in which the targeted businesses and residences are located was established by the Kentucky Department of Public Health, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other state and federal agencies.
The warehouse, which was located on the eastern edge of Horse Cave’s city limits, adjoining Ky. 218, was demolished recently, the debris ground into mulch and offered free to anyone who wanted it.
The Kentucky Division for Air Quality requires businesses to sample for asbestos before beginning any demolition project. In this case, the division was not made aware of the demolition and asbestos sampling did not occur.
The Department of Environmental Protection responded to a complaint about the debris. Air quality tests found asbestos in the debris.
Those who received the mulch should not try to clean it or remove it from their property themselves.
“But they must notify the Kentucky Division for Air Quality,” McDaniel said.
Health risks to those who picked up the material are considered to be minimal, according to the division of air quality.
Anyone who received the mulch needs to call the office of air quality in Bowling Green at (270) 746-7475 to arrange for a certified asbestos contractor to remove the material.
The materials given away as mulch contained wood timbers and roofing.
Two notices of violation are pending against the owner of the warehouse and the demolition firm, both of which are required to pay for a certified asbestos contractor go to sites where the material was taken to clean up and remove it.