What is an asbestos spill?
Asbestos can be found all throughout your house, which is why an asbestos spill can easily happen. The most common ways a spill can occur is from demolition work, such as a kitchen remodel, or natural disaster such as a tornado, wildfire, or earthquake. When a fire burns through your house, asbestos containing materials (ACM) can release intense toxic mineral fibers in the air when the building burns. This is why cancer is the No. 1 death in career firefighters. Asbestos will become airborne the instant it’s disturbed, which is why you need proper testing and certified abatement contractors whenever you plan to renovate your house.
A major asbestos spill, per Colorado Regulation 8, Part B, Section I.B.68d, is an asbestos spill involving the disturbance of friable, as defined in Section I.B.52., ACM in an mount greater than the trigger levels. The trigger levels in single family residential dwellings are as follows: 32 square feet, 50 linear feet, or the volume equivalent of a 55 gallon drum. Friable means that the material, when dry, may be crumbled pulverized, or reduced to powder by hand pressure.
Once a major spill is identified, the facility owner, operator or contractor, who discovered or created the disturbance must immediately submit the Major Asbestos Spill Notification form to the CDPHE, within 24 hours.
The only way to avoid a Major Asbestos Spill is to have a certified building inspector test BEFORE you start renovating. Schedule today.
