According to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the US, the half-acre site beside Nashua River, next to the city library, has been cleaned up after digging 95 tons of asbestos contaminated soil. It took almost three week to clean asbestos completely from the riverside soil. Some special type of cloth and at least six inches of fresh soil was used to cover the area after the cleanup.
Throughout the area of Nashua and Hudson, a legacy of the Johns Manville Plant on Bridge Street, high levels of asbestos are present. The company actually supplied leftover asbestos to people who want the material for construction purpose, as it is commonly used for building fireproof building, roads, parks and parking lots for seven decades. Due to this, asbestos remains kept on been accumulating and were becoming more and more dangerous with the passage of time posing the risk of mesothelioma cancer and other deadly diseases to residents of the area.
It was discovered that the asbestos fibers were being released from the contaminated soil, which can cause mesothelioma if inhaled. After the investigations concluded that presence of asbestos was becoming airborne by erosion and mowing, the EPA team jumped in to clean this deadly toxic from the river bank.
The estimated cost for the clean up work was around $140,000, which was taken under control of EPA’s Emergency Response Program in New England.
It has been known that the south side of the Nashua River has been contaminated since long. It was discovered when a walkway was built, next to the library a decade ago. But, when the extent and dangers of asbestos were estimated, the EPA hastened with the cleanup process.
