Smokestack emitted asbestos-vermiculite dust toward residential neighborhood

No record of stack emission testing is available, so how much asbestos was emitted from the facility is uncertain. A former employee recalled a stack which, he estimated, rose 10 ft above the roof. He reported seeing dust coming from the stack and blowing in the direction of nearby homes.

Some neighborhood residents also recalled dust blowing from the site. Others have claimed that dust came not from Vermiculite NW, but instead from the cement vault company located to the east of the site. Still others did not recall seeing any dust at all.

Eight soil and dust samples were collected from the site on April 27, 2000 (Figure 4). Six of these samples detected asbestos in concentrations ranging from trace amounts to 2%. Two different methods, Polarized Light Microscopy (PLM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), were used to analyze the samples with varying results.

Follow-up samples were taken September 5, 2001. Thirteen samples came from the site, 12 samples from nearby neighborhood yards, and 2 came from the previously-mentioned residence in Chattaroy, Washington, that reportedly had stoner rock from Vermiculite NW in the driveway and garden (Table B2). On-site sample results ranged from non-detect (ND)–3% asbestos. Off-site samples revealed a few locations with trace levels of asbestos in soil, including two samples from Chattaroy (Appendix B, Table B2).

It should be noted that much of the site is covered with loose gravel, asphalt, and fill while other areas of the site show accumulations of cement dust. Therefore, soil samples taken from the surface may not be representative of what lies a few inches below the surface: EPA investigators reported seeing layers of vermiculite 7–14 inches below the current ground surface. Subsurface samples were not collected at this site.

Courtesy of the Washington Department of Health