Asbestos search begins at O.T. fire site
Cleanup will speed up if none found
Monday, March 19, 2007
GALESBURG - The city of Galesburg may have a better idea in a week or so whether it will have to deal with an asbestos plan at the site of the former O.T. Johnson department store.People driving past the area Friday may have been surprised to see a tractor being used to move bricks around. The pile of rubble in the 100 block of East Main Street has sat pretty much undisturbed since emergency stabilization work was completed after the old department store building and the adjoining Gross Galesburg building were destroyed by fire Jan. 23, 2006. A Galesburg man died in the fire.
Community Development Director Roy Parkin said this morning the city brought in the tractor for one day Friday.
"We're trying to work with this asbestos thing," Parkin said.
The possibility of asbestos at the site is one of two things that has prevented the city from issuing requests for proposals to remove the thousands of bricks left behind by the fire. The other issue was the consulting engineer's report on what to do with the west wall of the old department store, which is the east wall of First Bank. That report now has been received.
Parkin said the consulting engineer hired to deal with asbestos issues used the tractor to sift through bricks on the north side of the debris area.
"If he can prove to the state he has done an inspection and found no asbestos, it will speed up the salvage process," Parkin said.
Earlier, Parkin said it might be four to five months before there would be any activity at the site, although he said then, "If we can do it quicker, we will."
If asbestos is found, the bricks in those areas will have to be taken to the Knox County Landfill. Parkin said earlier the bricks on the west side and those north of the elevator shaft can be salvaged, as well as those south of the elevator shaft. If it turns out the entire area is clear of asbestos, an RFP for salvaging bricks is the only one that would be needed, rather than one for removal of bricks to the landfill and one for salvage. That would speed up the process.
The city also will save some money if no asbestos is found. The landfill charges what is known as a tipping fee to dispose of material there, although the Knox County Board voted Feb. 28 to reduce the cost of disposing of the bricks at the landfill from $28 per ton to $16 per ton.
Parkin said the engineer found some plaster on the north side of the debris-strewn area and will have to test to see whether that material contains asbestos. He said the results of those tests should be known in about a week.
"If it comes back and it's pretty much clean, we can bid out the salvage operation," Parkin said.
The expectation is that once the area is cleaned of the bricks and other materials, the City Council will begin the RFP process to determine what development options exist.
