Preliminary tests of air samples from a Catonsville community coated last month in dust that tested positive for asbestos show nontoxic levels, officials said.
Residents of the Westview community may have been exposed to asbestos found in rocks crushed at the construction site of an assisted living facility on the 1500 block of North Rolling Road. Local developer Enterprise Homes has agreed to test the air inside neighbors’ homes and pay for cleanup if they test positive for asbestos and can trace the source to the construction site.
So far, tests at a nearby senior apartment complex and church have come back negative, according to records from the contracted firm, EA Engineering, Science and Technology.
Meanwhile, state environmental officials said they are investigating Enterprise Homes contractor Laney Materials for not securing a proper permit before starting to crush rocks Sept. 8. The company crushed nearly 6,000 tons of rocks on the site over 10 days, said Senior Vice President of Operations James Langley.
Baltimore County cited Enterprise Homes for “nuisance dust” just before a resident complained about potential asbestos contamination two weeks ago, said Jonas Jacobson, director of the county’s Department of Environmental Protection and Resource Management.
Langley said he kept productivity on the site low — the job could have been done in two days, he said — to keep dust at a minimum.
“I have been told by various people that the neighborhood complaints regarding dust started ages ago, before we were even mobilized to the site, so it appears neighbors were upset with all matters of dust and the most trivial of particle matters before we were even on this location,” Langley wrote in a letter to Jacobson. “I can understand this and if there were a job site behind my home, I would be concerned, too.”
In a letter to the community, Maryland’s Department of the Environment Secretary Shari Wilson said the risk associated with driving through dust is too small for widespread public warning.
But tens of thousands of cars travel along Rolling Road each day, said Steve Whisler, president of the Westview Park Improvement & Civic Association, and motorists have a right to know they may have been exposed.
Whisler said MDE has declined to send state analysts to conduct in-home air samples, rather then rely on a company hired by Enterprise Homes.
“I’m not satisfied,” Whisler said. “I’ve requested they come in themselves, but they refuse.”
