NESHAP Regulations Create High Costs for Asbestos Removal

For decades, asbestos was widely used in the construction industry for its strength, fire resistance, and excellent insulating properties. But, in the 1970s, when scientists reported the negative health effects of inhaled asbestos fibers, the material was banned as a hazardous air pollutant. A silicate mineral made up of bundles of microscopic fibers that can become airborne when disturbed, asbestos has left a legacy of contaminated abandoned buildings, especially in older neighborhoods. Undisturbed asbestos poses little immediate health risk, but because demolition or rehabilitation of asbestos-contaminated buildings is likely to release fibers into the air, the process is closely regulated by national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP). Under current NESHAP rules, the costs of removal can be substantial—up to 60 percent of the total demolition costs of a building—and are a deterrent to the remediation or removal of many abandoned structures.

Information courtesy of the EPA