December 26th, 2005

A block of apartments in Rockford is undergoing clean up works for asbestos contamination after asbestos exposure was identified by authorities in Illinois. The apartment block on Smith Avenue was evacuated and sealed off by officials recently, but the owner hopes that tenants will soon be back in once the clean up has been completed.

The building was evacuated and closed off in mid-November, with some of the tenants being moved into different apartments owned by the same landlord. The asbestos exposure was caused when a remodelling project was carried out at the apartments, and a local asbestos abatement company was employed to deal with the asbestos exposure problems arising from the remodelling work.

The landlord of the building submitted a clean up plan last week, and this was agreed and accepted by authorities. Work began on Tuesday of last week, and is estimated to cost around thirty thousand dollars. The asbestos was discovered by authorities after a complaint was received early in November, and subsequent tests proven positive for signs of asbestos contamination.

Some of the work that will be carried out includes air filtering inside the building, a clean up inside and outside the building, and the cleaning of all surfaces in the building. The air will then be tested to ensure that the contamination and exposure risk has been eliminated.