Activists Eye Novel Suit To Deter 'wet' Asbestos Demolition Method

摘要

Activists are looking to a novel suit pending in federal court challenging St. Louis' use of a controversial method for demolishing asbestos-containing buildings in the hopes that a ruling in their favor will deter future use of the method and dissuade EPA from reviving Bush administration efforts to endorse it. The Washington-based activist law firm Public Justice is among a number of law firms representing plaintiffs in the case Families For Asbestos Compliance, Testing And Safety v. City of St. Louis, Missouri et al., in which the plaintiffs are seeking civil penalties and injunctive relief regarding the city's use of the so-called "wet-method" in demolishing asbestos-containing buildings as part of an airport renovation project. "I'm trying to kill it," an attorney involved with the suit on behalf of the plaintiffs says of the wet method, which involves soaking asbestos-containing buildings in the hopes doing so will limit asbestos dispersal in the air during demolition, rather than removing the asbestos from the buildings before hand.