Power Plant Posed Asbestos Risk (to firefighters)

(03/24/06)

Published Thursday, March 23, 2006
By Rick Rousos
The Ledger

p.LAKELAND—Lakeland firefighters who responded to the fire last week at the McIntosh power plant will be tested to determine whether they were exposed to unhealthy amounts of asbestos, city officials said Wednesday.

Kevin Cook, the city’s director of communications, said the sheets of building material used in the power plant cooling tower, which burned in the fire, “is 84 percent fiberglass and 16 percent other material that may include asbestos.”

Karen Lukhaub, the city’s risk manager, said she was contacted recently by Lakeland Fire Chief Mike Mohler, who said some firefighters were concerned about asbestos exposure.

Mohler was unavailable for comment Wednesday.

Thirty Fire Department workers responded to the fire, including investigators and supervisors, said spokeswoman Cheryl Edwards.

During the fire, some of the firefighters used a cutting tool on the fiberglass, Cook said.

The city has hired Occupational Health Conservation, a Tampa company, to determine whether firefighters were exposed to asbestos. Asbestos exposure can cause a litany of lung problems, including asbestosis, which is characterized by fibrous scar tissue in the lungs and potential lung and heart failure.

p.OHC was already working at McIntosh with Lakeland Electric on some other fire-related items. Responding to Lukhaub, the company will:

Determine how many firefighters were nearby when the fiberglass was cut.

Test the bunker gear of those firefighters for asbestos.

Determine whether the firefighters were wearing their protective breathing apparatus during the fire.

Cook said air tested immediately after the fire was determined to have one-tenth of the level of asbestos particles considered harmful. However, that doesn’t mean that firefighters weren’t exposed to unsafe asbestos levels.

The cooling towers at the McIntosh plant were built in the early 1980s, when the use of asbestos was beginning to wane.

The use of asbestos as a building material was quite common in the 1960s and 1970s, up until the mid-1980s, said Robert Kincart, the general manager of American Compliance Technologies, a Bartow company that specializes in hazardous material removal, among other things.

“It was used as a very good insulator,” he said. “It was used in insulation, siding, and as an adhesive.”

Asbestos can be found in most houses and buildings built before 1985.

City officials said there is no agreement yet on how much ACT will be paid to investigate the potential asbestos problem with the firefighters. But they acknowledge it won’t be cheap.

The fire at the power plant is expected to reach a damage total of $500,000, $160,000 of which the city will have to cover as its insurance deductible. A more exact damage total is expected in a few weeks.

Rick Rousos can be reached at rick.rousos@theledger.com or 863-802-7516.