A federal court ruled the city of St. Louis violated federal asbestos safety standards when it allowed contractors to use a controversial asbestos removal procedure.
In 2000, the city of St. Louis began destroying 2,000 structures in order to clear space for an airport expansion project. Four years later the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that contractors had used an experimental and untested asbestos removal procedure on 260 homes within the Bridgeton community and planned to continue using it on other structures.
The procedure known as the "wet method" removes asbestos using high pressure water hoses to blast the material from pipes, walls and ceilings. The technique is supposed to control the release of asbestos fibers by keeping the material wet until it can be disposed.
However, many of the EPA's own experts called into question the safety of the procedure and argued for additional testing. The method is considered more cost-effective than traditional asbestos removal but is still being evaluated by the EPA with the most recent example being a test conducted on a Fort Worth apartment building.
A non-profit public interest law firm, Public Justice filed suit on behalf of residents who were worried about their health being compromised because the demolition occurred while they were still living in the area. They worried that runoff from the spraying may have contained asbestos fibers and when it dried, those fibers may have been released into the air.
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