EPA Bars Wet Method Demolition at Airport

The Environmental Protection Agency barred the use of a wet method to remove asbestos during demolition at a St. Louis, Mo., airport.

The EPA concluded that while the wet method appears to be generally safe, it lacks data to say with certainty that it keeps individual asbestos fibers from becoming airborne.

So the EPA rescinded an administrative order granted in 2003, and extended in March, allowing the wet method at the St. Louis airport project.

Use of the method at the project was halted in June, pending the EPA study.

In May, the EPA halted a proposal to use the same technique in Fort Worth, Texas.

The EPA usually allows wet demolition only when a building is in danger of collapsing and entry would be too dangerous for workers