After thoroughly searching 30-year-old construction records and regulations to determine liability for asbestos found at Charleston International Airport, its oversight agency won't be able to recoup nearly $1 million.
That's the conclusion reached Tuesday by Arnold Goodstein, attorney for the Charleston County Aviation Authority.
"It looks like there will be no recovery," Goodstein told an airport panel. "I don't think we have a chance of going after anybody."
His comments came after Ron Sharpe with The GEL Group, a West Ashley engineering firm, studied asbestos specifications for when the terminal was constructed in the early 1980s.
Nowhere in the specifications at the time was there a mandate that the materials used during construction had to be asbestos-free, Sharpe said.
"We were unable to find that the waterproofing materials had to be asbestos-free," he said.
The agency considered legal action against the companies responsible for installing the asbestos-laced building products, but that now appears unlikely. The Environmental Protection Agency regulated some asbestos materials as early as 1973, but not all of the applications were banned.
"I think we have run it down to the end," Goodstein said.
Board member Larry Richter doesn't want to give up and asked that airport staff continue to look for any chance of recouping the money.
The airport will soon have spent about $819,000 to remove asbestos, a potentially cancer-causing agent. Officials project they might spend another $50,000 if similar waterproofing materials are found when renovation of the Delta Air Lines-dominated Concourse A begins soon.
None of the asbestos has been in areas accessible to the public, and it has been removed in contained areas, according to Airports Director Paul Campbell.
Asbestos was first discovered inside the walls on the terminal's facade in January. Later in the year, workers found the same asbestos-containing glue in exterior stairwell walls on Concourse B.
The airport is in the throes of a $189 million renovation and expansion, adding five new gates, a third baggage carousel, consolidated security checkpoint, a new rental-car pavilion and scores of other changes. The terminal work will help meet the growing passenger demand at the state's largest airport.
The full airport board will hear the asbestos report when it meets Dec. 18.
- Source: http://www.postandcourier.com
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