Click here for blog
Illegally dumped debris from demolition of the old Pepperell High School may contain asbestos, according to local and state environmental officials.
The debris was dumped off Booze Mountain Road on Otting and Sons property, which is not an approved construction and demolition landfill site.
Initial testing by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division also detected the presence of asbestos, according to EPD spokesperson Kevin Chambers.
Separate testing ordered by Floyd County Schools came back negative for asbestos, said Bob Puckett, assistant superintendent of financial, facility and auxiliary services.
The system¡¦s next step will likely be to order additional asbestos testing.
"To our knowledge — we thought everyone was doing the right thing and we find out later that maybe they didn't," Puckett said. "We're getting some of the answers now and tomorrow hopefully we'll get more of the answers."
Sub-contractor HBJ Corporation of Chattanooga was hired for the demolition job by Ra-Lin & Associates, the firm overseeing construction of the new Pepperell High School.
HBJ told the system that it applied for a dumping permit with the Floyd County Police Department, Puckett said.
However, no such contract was — or could be — issued by the department, said Brian Roberts, Rome-Floyd Building Inspection environmental inspector.
It appears that HBJ went to the county police department and received a form to apply to dump in an inert waste landfill, he said.
However that request, which could only have been approved through a joint effort of the state EPD and local building authority, was never filed or approved, he said.
Representatives from HBJ and Otting and Sons, which operates a junkyard off Booze Mountain Road, were not available for comment Thursday afternoon. Representatives of Ra Lin declined comment.
Regardless of asbestos presence, the materials would not have been approved for an inert landfill, used for the disposal of such items as concrete, rock, bricks and stumps, Roberts said.
Rome-Floyd Building Inspection has pursued charges of illegal dumping and violation of permit conditions against Ra Lin, HBJ and Otting, Roberts said. A hearing is scheduled for Aug. 17 in Magistrate Court.
Although Floyd County Schools is cooperating with investigators, Puckett said he considers Ra Lin and HBJ responsible for the violations and for the complete cost of what could be a pricey cleanup if asbestos is present.
However, fault is not so clear cut, said Mike Ashley, chief building inspector. "Floyd County Schools is ultimately responsible as owner of the property where it was removed from," he said.
Meanwhile, the new Pepperell High building and campus are safe and asbestos-free to welcome students on schedule for the first day of classes Tuesday, he added.
