Sedalia’s Unsafe Buildings: I Got Straight Answers

Hello every one, here I am back with part two, if you will, to my article from yesterday, asking for some answers about the issue of the dangerous building here in Sedalia.

At the end of the article, I mentioned that I reached out to Bryan Kopp, the Chief Building Official and Community Development Director. He did get back to me that same day, but I was already out for the day. It happens. Anyway, he  suggested that we meet at the Municipal Building on Friday, and he agreed to answer all of my questions.

So before I begin, I want to point out - this article is a layperson (me) attempting to explain stuff to another layperson (you, gentle reader). I'm not trying to be fancy or stiff with my words, I just want to explain it as simply as possible.  This is actually really out of character for me, as I'm not an investigative reporter.  

Answers On Sedalia's Dangerous Building Issue

First of all, let's talk about the reason the DNR sent the City a letter, and what the letter entailed. The letter sent to the City, in summation, asks them to get an independent asbestos and lead inspector for the demolitions they've done, in line with DNR's regulations.

The reason the City didn't get an inspector and have them look for lead or asbestos BEFORE they did the demolition was, frankly, because they thought they didn't have to.  Let's look at it ourselves.  After all, according to the DNR site itself, (emphasis mine):

The first step in determining if your demolition or renovation project is regulated is to determine the type of structure that will be affected. The department regulates demolition and renovation projects involving institutional, commercial, public, industrial or residential structures, installations or buildings. An exception to this regulation is a single residential structure that contains four or fewer dwelling units. Projects that involve two or more residential structures are not exempt.

So since each house that was on the list was a single-family dwelling, the City was under the impression they didn't need to do a test beforehand.  I mean, as I read it, that's how it sounded to me, as well.  Mr. Kopp explained it further.

Let's refer to the lady on my block as "Cindy" (not her real name, of course).  He said that if Cindy had decided to have her home torn down on her dime, DNR would NOT be involved, and wouldn't require any testing for lead or asbestos, nor would there be any regulation process in place for clean up.  Even if it was riddled with asbestos from top to bottom, it would be entirely up to the homeowner to deal with it. That doesn't seem right to me? Like, shouldn't we always test on houses a certain number of years old?

DNR clarified that the City DOES have to do those tests because the City decided to work on two or more abatement projects in the same fiscal year.   That's the reason DNR got involved.  As soon as the City realized they needed to have inspections, they stopped all progress on the project so those tests could be done. That's why Cindy's house was torn down on the 26th of February, and we're still here in March.

The City had to find an independent asbestos inspector, and then they had to hire that firm, the firm had to schedule a visit, then they had to do the actual testing.  All of that takes time, you get it.

So What Do The Reports Say?

Well, let me stop you there first and let you know that nobody is in any major, immediately life-threatening danger from asbestos or lead right now.   You can read on if you like, but if you are frightened, you can breathe out. It is dangerous, yes.  But don't panic.  Kopp gave me paper copies of the asbestos inspection reports from 818 West 5th, 119 South Stewart, 1512 South Prospect, and another building that is still standing, 830 West 6th.

First, let's explain what we're talking about here. There are two types of asbestos to be concerned with here, categorized as "friable" and "non-friable".

It's that powder stuff in the picture.

They're both dangerous but in different ways. "Friable",  to put it simply, means it can be crumbled or is easily destroyed with just hand pressure.  Like, if you were to touch it, you can easily crumble it up in your hands.  "Non-Friable" is a type of asbestos that is hard and in larger pieces.

Think concrete walls or pipes, that kind of thing.  Both are dangerous, but the Friable kind is the one you want to be immediately worried about since the pieces can be breathed in or ingested. That's the type that you've seen associated with mesothelioma.

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Of the four reports I was given, three of the four have asbestos.  818 West 5th Street and 119 South Stewart both have non-friable asbestos. One house had it in some floor tile and window caulk, and the other had some in the floor tile as well as a part of the siding that was cemented. 1512 South Prospect had no asbestos. 830 West 6th, the house that's still standing, has both friable and non-friable asbestos.

They identified samples of floor tile in the kitchen, sheet flooring on the back porch, and floor tile in the bathroom that had non-friable asbestos in it.  Meanwhile, some duct wrapping in the basement had sixteen feet of friable asbestos in it.

So, since DNR is now involved, this makes the process safer, but it also makes it more complicated.  It means there are more steps to the process, and that will take more time.  So Mr. Kopp couldn't give me a firm timeline of when things will be cleaned up, simply because it takes a lot of time and effort to get this together.  This time, to finish clean up, they'll have to do something called a "wet" removal.

Basically they're going to use methods to ensure nothing goes flying into the air. They can't just pour water on it and hope for the best. They have techniques ready so they can be sure nothing breathable gets out, and nothing is left behind or in the soil.  And then, they're going to be removed into dumpsters with special coverings on them, etc.   So that's going to take a little scheduling to get going, but he doesn't anticipate it will take a super long time. I know I was disappointed to not get a firm timeline, but I figure I don't know anything about how any of this works, so what I want may or may not be physically possible.

Having said all of that, he and his office want to make it clear that if anyone has any questions or concerns about how this works or what it means, they're happy to explain it or help people.  In fact, he mentioned he was going to take my suggestion about notifying the neighboring houses surrounding any projects they're going to take on in the future.

It might not answer every question you had, but I hope I was able to take the foot off the gas when it comes to anybody panicking.  They may not be the answers you or I wanted, but I know I learned a couple of things.  If you have any other questions, you can always email Bryan Kopp at bkopp@sedalia.com or you can call 660-851-7637.

Learningly yours,
Behka