Asbestos News
UK council blocks development at old asbestos factory site
A local UK council recently blocked a developer's attempt to build hundreds of homes on the site of a former asbestos factory.Rochdale Council rejected developers MMC Estates' plan to build the 600 homes at the old Turner and Newall site, according to the BBC.
Peter Rawlinson, head of planning at Rochdale Council, said that the plans were not approved because there was no information regarding how the homes could be built on the former asbestos factory site safely.
A spokesman for the developers said that they would re-submit a new plan to the council.
"If they came back [with a new plan,] it would have to have full details of how the site could be reclaimed safely," Rawlinson told the news source.
Some locals have fought the development out of safety concerns; asbestos exposure can cause asbestosis, lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma.
"Our six-and-a-half-year campaign has confirmed that thousands of tons of asbestos waste is dumped on the site - it was a very dusty factory which had produced asbestos since 1870," asbestos campaigner Jason Addy told the news provider. "We feared demolishing the building and disturbing the soil could release this hidden killer again."
1/14/11
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