Feds to Test Air near Site of Silo Demolition

**James** · #1 (**permalink**) 06-12-2006, 08:08 AM

Federal inspectors will test the air near the site in Buffalo where demolition crews are tearing down a silo to make way for the Seneca Indian tribe's next gambling casino.

The testing comes after Erie County officials said dangerous asbestos could be in the dust that has covered a neighborhood near the H-O Oats silo.

The Environmental Protection Agency will conduct the tests at the nine-acre site of the planned Seneca Indians' Buffalo Creek Casino.

County officials say the tribe's records show that the 70-year-old tower contains asbestos in a silver coating covering the silos.

Dust kicked up by the demolition work was drifting into a nearby neighborhood that's home to dozens of loft apartments and a housing complex.
A spokesman for the Seneca casino company tells The Buffalo News that the tribe is aware of the asbestos concerns and has been conducting daily testing of its own.

The spokesman says the dust is mostly concrete dust.

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**James** · #2 (**permalink**) 06-15-2006, 04:14 PM

With just a thin slice of the H-O Oats silos left to demolish, federal environmental officials announced Wednesday that there was no airborne asbestos escaping the site in the city's Cobblestone District and no health threat to nearby residents.

Testing done in the last week by the Environmental Protection Agency backed the conclusions of the Seneca Nation of Indians, which said its daily testing since the demolition began May 27 had also shown no danger.

"No," EPA spokesman Michael J. Basile said when asked whether neighborhood residents had anything to fear from the continued demolition.

"We went so far as to say that because of the dust, people who have respiratory problems should wet things down," Basile said. "But there was no asbestos found."

Basile said EPA inspectors will remain at the site for another week, continuing testing.