Pipe's asbestos debris not threat, St. Louis health director says April 06, 2012 │ BY DAVID HUNN ST. LOUIS • Several crews worked to power-wash, vacuum and wipe down a one-block section of downtown Friday, the day after a ruptured underground pipe sent a plume of steam, dirt and asbestos fiber four stories into the air. The city's health director, Pam Walker, announced Friday that the steam blast had broken the pipe's insulation and released asbestos, which settled over cars, sidewalks and streets in the block south of Convention Plaza and west of North 11th Street. It was unclear exactly how much asbestos fill had spilled from the insulation. Walker said tests turned up small but detectable amounts. She urged loft residents in the immediate area to close windows and stay off their porches until testing and cleanup were finished. Still, she said the health risk was "very minimal." "Once it settles, it doesn't really move much," Walker said, noting that the fiber was probably earthbound by 7 a.m. Thursday. "And it's not contagious. Once it's not airborne, it's really not a risk."
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Pipe's asbestos debris not threat, St. Louis health director saysApril 06, 2012│ BY DAVID HUNN
ST. LOUIS • Several crews worked to power-wash, vacuum and wipe down a one-block section of downtown Friday, the day after a ruptured underground pipe sent a plume of steam, dirt and asbestos fiber four stories into the air.The city's health director, Pam Walker, announced Friday that the steam blast had broken the pipe's insulation and released asbestos, which settled over cars, sidewalks and streets in the block south of Convention Plaza and west of North 11th Street.
It was unclear exactly how much asbestos fill had spilled from the insulation. Walker said tests turned up small but detectable amounts. She urged loft residents in the immediate area to close windows and stay off their porches until testing and cleanup were finished.
Still, she said the health risk was "very minimal."
"Once it settles, it doesn't really move much," Walker said, noting that the fiber was probably earthbound by 7 a.m. Thursday. "And it's not contagious. Once it's not airborne, it's really not a risk."
"I really don't think this should be a concern for people," she added.
The pipe is part of a 17-mile-long underground steam loop that has provided heat to downtown since 1922. It still serves about 125 customers, including hotels, sports facilities, offices and many public buildings — courts, City Hall, the Justice Center, the Gateway Arch and Soldiers Memorial.
The system is fueled by a natural gas power plant at 1 Ashley Place downtown, said a spokesman for Trigen-St. Louis Energy Corp., a subsidiary of Boston-based Veolia Energy North America and the underground loop's current operator. The plant burns natural gas to generate electricity. Heat produced in the process is used to make steam.
The 11th Street section burst about 6:30 a.m. Thursday, Walker said. The blast broke through the dirt, blew off a manhole cover, buckled the asphalt and streamed out of fissures on 11th. By 7:30 a.m., Trigen had shut valves and isolated the break.
Walker said Trigen had airborne asbestos tests done by 8:45 a.m. All came back negative, she said. It took longer to get back the ground-test results. But by Thursday afternoon, asbestos fibers were found in swabs of the ground around the site, and Walker said the testing expanded. The results did not come back until late Thursday night.
Late Friday morning, the health department announced the findings.
Walker said that this was the first such break in her tenure as health director and that in hindsight, she would have demanded the ground-swab tests earlier.
Still, downtown's main strip, Washington Avenue, bustled with traffic Friday afternoon, despite the lifts, trucks and roped-off 11th Street just one block north. The manager at the Peruvian restaurant Mango, which sits just south of the steam pipe break, said lunch had been busy — about 70 diners.
He was more worried about dinner. The restaurant had already gotten calls asking if it was open for the evening. "Yes, we are still open!" said manager Andrew Viragh. "We have lots of fish for Holy Week."
And many walking down Washington either didn't know of the break, or weren't concerned.
"We know as much as you do," said Nick Kapfer, 29, out walking his dogs. "The only thing we've been told is to watch the news."
Mike Calvin, 61, drove in from the Lafayette Square neighborhood for lunch at The Dubliner, on the corner of 11th and Washington. He said he had just heard the news before heading out and wasn't worried.
"It's an old city. There's old buildings," he said. "If it becomes a big health hazard, they'll address it."
Still, for others, just the word worried them. "Asbestos has a bad reputation," said John Do, 32, who lives in the Bee Hat Lofts, just above The Dubliner.
Experts, however, said people shouldn't be overly alarmed.
"A one-time exposure will not adversely affect your health status," said Dr. Peter G. Tuteur, a professor at Washington University.
He said the serious diseases caused by asbestos — mesothelioma and asbestosis — occur from "persistent chronic exposure" to airborne fibers. Tuteur said people who worked in heavy industry, where asbestos was constantly moved or put in the air, were at risk.
"But we don't see a lot of that anymore in the United States," he added.
Even if you are exposed, Tuteur said, asbestos-related diseases don't typically manifest until 20 years later.
A spokesman for the Environmental Protection Agency said the agency was aware of the situation in St. Louis but had not been called in to assist with cleanup. Chris Whitley, a spokesman for the agency, said the risk of exposure was minimal unless someone had been in close contact with asbestos dust.
Walker said that as of Friday afternoon, no one had called the city with exposure concerns. She said the Fire Department arrived within five minutes of the pipe rupture and cordoned off the streets immediately.
Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson said through a spokeswoman for Mayor Francis Slay that firefighters' clothes and equipment were decontaminated after exposure, and that those exposed would go through "precautionary health screenings and tests" next week.
But Chris Molitor, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 73, said some firefighters were concerned.
"That's just one of the types of hazards we face every day, on any given call," he said.
On Friday afternoon, workers were hoping to peel back the asphalt and get to the break underneath. They planned to have the pipe fixed by the end of the weekend.
Old steam pipes wrapped with asbestos run underground throughout downtown, and breaks are hard to predict. Still, Walker said, the city anticipates that Trigen will analyze the defect in the pipe and report back to Rich Bradley, the city's chief engineer.
"He's holding them accountable for that," Walker said. "They're supposed to give him a report about why this happened."
