McKee Says He Wouldn't Want Dust From Bridge Demo at His Home
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McKee Says He Wouldn't Want Dust From Bridge Demo at His Home
At a press conference on Tuesday, more and more questions arose about the McKee administration’s competency in managing the Washington Bridge failure.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTGoLocalProv News Editor Kate Nagle asked McKee about the impact of the demolition on the health of the neighbors who live just a few hundred feet away.
“So the neighbors who live next to the bridge are fully aware they live next to a highway. They haven't complained about the noise of the highway before. But now, since the demolition, dust is flowing all over their materials, their cars, their yards, and gardens — there's a gentleman who had a stroke within the vicinity, and there's a woman who's nine months pregnant — why isn't your Administration doing more to protect these neighbors and why hasn't there been testing of this dust that is now all over the neighborhoods and will resume on Sunday?” asked Nagle.
Nagle pressed, “As we know, the Department of Transportation does not have the best track record when it comes to contamination on projects [a reference to the contamination on RIDOT's 6/10 project]. Why has there been no testing? Will there be testing?"
McKee did not answer why there has been no testing.
McKee said, “I mean, that's certainly the reason I'm stepping in and managing a meeting on Thursday night so that I'm hearing directly from individuals their particular concerns, and when they rise to a level that we need to do some testing, we'll do that. If they rise to a level where we need to provide a certain amount of assistance or help that's not currently in the mix, we will do that.”
Nagle asked if the dust from the bridge should be collected and brought to the Governor’s house.
“Do you think what the neighbors are going through is appropriate right now? Would you like this level of dust to be collected and brought to your homes?” asked Nagle.
“Of course not. You know I've delayed the overnight hammering and jackhammering until we have a chance to talk to the people, and that should have been done prior to. But I can't turn the clock back. I can do everything I can right now to talk directly with those individuals, and I have no problem living by visiting them individually as well,” said McKee.
“I’m looking forward to that meeting, and I'm looking forward to making progress on the very issues,” McKee said.
Last month, a GoLocal drone captured dusk from the demolition flying from the site into the Fox Point neighborhood.
To date, RIDOT has not taken effective action to control the dust.
Silica Dangers — Workers and Neighbors
Silica came to prominent attention due to its link to illness and deaths of emergency responders and workers tied to 9/11.
According to CDC:
Construction dust can cause serious damage to workers’ health and life-threatening diseases. Construction workers can be exposed to many types of dust, such as silica, wood, and lead dust. Workplace exposure to small particles of silica dust, also known as respirable crystalline silica, can lead to serious diseases, including silicosis, a progressive lung disease marked by scarring and thickening of the lung tissue; lung cancer; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); and kidney disease. It’s estimated that about 2 million construction workers are exposed to silica dust on the job [CDC 2020].
NIOSH sets Recommended Exposure Limits (RELs), including a suggested limit of exposure to silica dust. A recent study of workers exposed to silica dust by industry published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine found that of 100,000 workers who were exposed above the NIOSH REL, 8 out of 10 of those workers were in the construction industry [Doney et al. 2020].
Construction workers can be exposed to silica dust from many sources. For example, concrete workers can be exposed to silica dust during mixing, sawing, jackhammering, chipping, grinding, and cleaning operations. Masons can be exposed when cutting concrete blocks and bricks, mixing mortar, and tuckpointing.
In other states, RIDOT’s failure to control dust would not be allowed.
In California, the Department of Transportation, known as Caltrans, has regulations to control dust emissions.
According to Caltrans:
Nuisance dust can be a hazard and adequate control is required. Water is a common dust palliative used during bridge removal.
Often, dust generated by bridge removal activities has an increased hazard potential. Saw cutting or grinding concrete, or any activity that places silica into the air, is a concern. Excavations that disturb the aerially deposited lead near transportation facilities might produce hazardous dust.
The Contract Specifications, Section 14-11.04, Environmental Stewardship – Hazardous Waste and Contamination – Dust Control, requires any activity that might generate hazardous dust must not result in visible dust migration.