Caledonia Argus

County may face fines after demolition of house

Posted: 6/24/03

by Jane Palen
Managing editor

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is investigating the demolition of a county-owned home in Caledonia for possible violations relating to asbestos removal.

County engineer Allen Henke received a letter from the MnPCA which informed him that the MnPCA staff had inspected the property at East Washington and South Park Street (adjacent to the sheriffís garage) and identified potential violations of federal regulations, state statutes, rules or permit conditions. The MnPCA was acting on a complaint from a citizen when it inspected the property.

The county has owned that property for about a year and a half and had rented out the home. However, after having difficulty in collecting rent during that time, commissioners agreed to ask the renter to move and clear the property. The county highway department was asked to do the demolition.

County Engineer Henke said he was unaware when demolition began that the siding of the house contained asbestos. He said he was also unaware that a survey was required before the demolition could begin.

Once the asbestos was discovered, said Henke, Braun Intertech was hired to oversee the rest of the project. The firm signed off on the project after demolition was completed.

The demolition material, and the top three to four inches of topsoil, was hauled to the La Crosse County Landfill. The siding that had been removed was wrapped in a protective material before being transported. Receipts from the landfill show that material containing asbestos was delivered to the La Crosse County landfill June 2 and 3.

Mark Hugeback of the MnPCA office in Rochester said that the investigation was prompted by a complaint from a private individual. By the time the agency got to the site, the building was gone. Several pieces of the siding were collected and sent to a lab in St. Paul for analysis. Although Hugeback had not received results by Friday, June 20, he said that the type of siding removed contains asbestos ìabout 99 percent of the time.î

If the presence of asbestos is confirmed in the siding, the county could be looking at a potential enforcement action.

ìItís definitely headed in that direction,î said Hugeback. The county could be fined up to $10,000, but most fines for this type of violation fall in the $5,000 to $7,500 range.

As a government unit, the county is subject to different regulations than a private individual, Hugeson explained.

ìIt comes down to exposing other people to it (asbestos),î he said, adding that if a homeowner wants to take the risk on his own home, itís up to him, but a business or government should not put others at risk.

ìIf we could regulate them all, that would be great,î said Hugeback.

Before the demolition began the county should have conducted a survey to determine whether asbestos was present and then addressed the problem of how to demolish the building and get rid of the asbestos.

ìItís great that they cleaned it up, but the issue is what they did before,î said Hugeback.

Hugeback said that the county should have been aware of the proper procedures before beginning the demolition project.

ìThese are not new rules,î he commented. ìSomeone should be up on this.î

Ironically, had crews used hand tools to remove the siding and then placed it into roll-off containers, that would have created much less of a problem, said Hugeback. Breaking up the siding is what created the potential hazard, he said.

At the county board meeting of June 17, county zoning/solid waste officer Rick Frank told commissioners that ìWe did everything right but the administrative part, which we were unaware of.î

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