Hurricane Katrina Cleanup Workers Say Contractors Ignoring Asbestos Rules

By Brian Cole

Published on May 30, 2006

The employees, speaking anonymously for fear of retaliation from the contractors, claimed to be trained and certified in proper asbestos-abatement techniques with more than 15 years of combined experience. All of the workers were employed by separate companies and worked in different areas of structural inspection, demolition and debris removal.

They all agreed that a long term health hazard was being created in the area through the mishandling of asbestos by employees who are not properly equipped by contractors. Asbestos fibers, they said, are also left to blow through residential neighborhood out of demolished homes or off trucks.

Many complaints specifically addressed what the employees saw as a lack of oversight by government agencies as the cleanup following Hurricane Katrina continues. According to spokesmen, neither the Mississippi’s Department of Environmental Quality or the federal Occupation Safely and Health Administration are sending enforcement officials to the area because much of it is still declared a federal disaster area.

Both agencies said the responsibility of providing safe working conditions is in the hands of employers, not the government.

The employees said the contractors are not following safety regulations because it slows them down and that means less profit.

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