CASE STUDY OF CONTAMINATED SOIL
AN ASBESTOS CASE STUDY - FLAT BUSH, MANUKAU CITY, SOUTH AUCKLAND, NEWZEALAND.
July 2011
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 BACKGROUND 2 1.1 Introduction 2 1.2 Flat Bush Asbestos Site Location 2 1.3 Site History 3
2 EVALUATION OF ASBESTOS EXTENT AND ITS IMPACTS 5 2.1 General 5 2.2 Health Issues 6 2.3 Remediation Options and Regulations 6
3 FACTS ABOUT ASBESTOS 8 3.1 Nature of Asbestos 8 3.2 Asbestos in Environment 8 3.3 Exposure to Lead 9 3.4 Harmful Health Effects from Asbestos Exposure 9
4 REVIEW OF ADOPTED REMEDIATION METHOD 11 4.1 Overview of Asbestos Remediation 11 4.2 Final View on Adopted Remediation at Flat Bush Site 11
REFERENCES 12
1 …show more content…
Subsequent to the 2001 report from the local government and environment select committee outlined above, the MCC negotiated the removal of the asbestos affecting Rakaia Rise properties. Further, it developed guidelines for dealing with contaminated sites and any development of them. 3.5 Health Issues
Many residents were wary of any dust getting pushed up from the soil due to any land developments (e.g. foundation excavations) that may occur, and thereby turning the asbestos into a form that has a toxic affect. A scoping report commissioned indicated that the effects of low-dose scenarios in reference to Chrysotile are poorly understood; thus there were no real precedents to work from in assessing the risk to property owners health in reference to the asbestos contamination .Secondly, as outlined earlier, the MCC has no official guidelines to effectively compare with that indicate safe levels of asbestos. 3.6 Remediation Options and Regulations
The options for remediating asbestos-contaminated sites are limited. In practical terms, capping/burial is the only option. The only choice is whether capping/burial is in-situ or in a landfill. There is some research indicating that at high temperatures asbestos fibres break down to less harmful forms, and also that ball-milling can render fibres innocuous, but so far, these have no practical application.
The New Zealand asbestos regulations