Ambler, Pennsylvania Town Still Looking to Fix Asbestos Waste Issue

The residents of Ambler, Pennsylvania are uniting to have the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) use technology to handle their asbestos problem. Decades ago, Ambler was a town populated by factories manufacturing asbestos-containing insulation for water pipes, siding, shingles and car break shoes.

The factories had been dumping asbestos contaminated waste for years prior to any government regulations being implemented. Today, it is predicted that there is 3 million tons of asbestos waste spread across 66 acres in Ambler.

Airborne asbestos fibers that are inhaled and become lodged into the soft tissue of the lungs can cause a number of illnesses including asbestosis and malignant mesothelioma, a fatal form of cancer. Symptoms for the diseases can take between 20 and 50 years to appear, too late for any effective treatment.

In an effort to prevent the spread of asbestos fibers, the dump sites have been covered in layers of dirt. Still, there are many areas where the asbestos fibers have not been covered and pose a health threat to local residents.

However, the group Citizens for a Better Ambler has gone to the EPA asking that they use high-temperature technology from ARI Technologies to turns asbestos into environmentally safe gravel. The technology has previously been used by the United States Navy.

The EPA argues the cost of the technology is just too high. It is estimated to cost $135 per ton, and with almost 3 million tons of asbestos in Ambler, the cost would be over $400 million.