Trump’s swift demolition of East Wing may have launched asbestos plumes

There is no confirmation that the Trump admin. followed abatement processes.

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[DarthSlack]

Really doesn't matter if they did or didn't. The Supreme Court said that the orange lunatic is immune to prosecution, even for being fined or reprimanded. All fingers will point at him as the 'big decision maker' sparing all of the others involved in the illegal action.

The rule of law is essentially no more.

Trump may not be touchable, but ACECO certainly is. They should know all about asbestos and the need for proper abatement. Their disregard for their own workers is just insane. And permitting offices and inspectors around the greater DC area should spend some serious quality time reviewing each and every ACECO job site for violations. After all, if they're willing to fuck around with asbestos, who know what else they're happy to fuck around with.

 

[DarthSlack]

I'd settle for him stacking cardboard boxes of asbestos-laden East Wing debris in the Mar-a-lago bathrooms.

Just label the boxes "TOP SECRET" and they'll migrate on their own.

 

[DarthSlack]

Hey, I found a WW2 bomb under your driveway, so I'm sure you'll be glad to hear instead of calling the bomb squad, I lit the fuse.
Gotta get rid of these things sooner than later amirite?

I know you're joking, but DC has some odd things buried in neighborhoods. Like WWI mustard gas canisters. Now the WH likely doesn't have anything that awful, but construction in DC can get spicy in rather unexpected ways.

 

[DarthSlack]

It is ultimately the responsibility of the project proponent and, in this case, the contracting officer. The contractor is responsible only for fulfilling the terms of their SOW/PWS and would not be required to presumptively test or mitigate for asbestos if those contracting documents did not specify them as part of the scope.

I'm not so sure that the contractor has that easy an out. I mean, yeah, the SOW should specify what they do, but they don't have to just blindly accept an SOW without changes. If they suspect a problem with something like asbestos, they do have a duty to their own employees to work with it in a safe manner. Just pointing to the SOW sounds a bit too close to "just following orders".

 

[DarthSlack]

I think this is really overreaching a lot. Asbestos lung disease is serious matter, but its not SARS for Christ sake, that you can get it by walking by removal site one time.

Here's the thing about cancer..... Whether or not you get it is largely dependent on genetics and prior exposure to carcinogens. Two people standing next to each other and watching the East Wing get torn down, inhaling the same amount of asbestos, can have two VERY different outcomes depending on the genes they inherited and what they've come across during life.

So claiming that you can't get it by one exposure is bullshit. Maybe not you, but someone can.