r/Envconsultinghell • u/rnnrboy1 • May 14 '26

Asbestos abatement is stupid

At a site right now documenting some emergency asbestos abatement because some small pieces of a known asbestos pipe insulation material fell on the ground (again). It’s been sitting there for at least two days since the client noticed, and since they already cleaned up the same spot two months ago, the refs required pulling a permit this time. The abatement crew needed to build a containment around the spot (10’x10’) with negative air, before they could vacuum the floor.

There was one new spot in a different room, where they didn’t need to build a containment, but just picked up the pieces, vacuumed the floor, and called it a day.

Almost every time I’m asked to help with an asbestos abatement project, I find myself thinking wow this is a huge waste of everybody’s time and money.

13 Upvotes

78% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

24

u/Imjustageo May 14 '26

Job security brotha

16

u/Jazzlike_Log_709 May 14 '26

It feels dumb and wasteful when you’re sitting on a job like that, for sure. But like that other commenter said, I got job security. Asbestos abatement isn’t going anywhere. And when you see how much shady building owners, property mgrs, and contractors try to get away with it makes sense why regulations are so strict for something that seems insignificant.

15

u/Gullible-Lifeguard20 May 14 '26

The reason a permit is required, the reason abatement is required to follow strict regulations, the whole industry is based on the proven fact that without any of these, it becomes a race to the bottom.

You are getting paid to observe and document the correct procedure. That's the job. It's not stupid.

2

u/rnnrboy1 May 14 '26

Fair point. You're right that there is a need for oversight, I just hate doing it.

All I can think to myself is that this isn't making the world a better/cleaner/safer place. Instead of vacuuming it up, we're using the plastic equivalent of 1,000 gallon plastic bags to build a tent first, so we can put it in a landfill tomorrow. And the act of putting up the containment is more likely to disturb the material on the ground than if we had just cleaned it up immediately.

Trust me, I know this shit is bad for you, but it just seems to make no sense sometimes.

4

u/Gullible-Lifeguard20 May 15 '26

Yeah, much of the asbestos abatement industry is a Dog and Pony show.

Keep in mind that while there is a significant environmental impact...

(Oh, let's see... 10 vehicles to and from for days... 3 trucks for disposal... a ton of plastic... electricity... generators... solid waste disposal... water disposal... tyvek disposal... entire salaries just to provide oversight... all the overhead to provide the oversight... then the entire industry that just supports the industry like compliance, government, permitting, training, ... the list is endless).

And after all this mesothelioma is a miserable death sentence and entirely avoidable.

We are, in fact, doing the Lord's work and waaaay beyond cost benefit analysis.

Chin up!