Converting 30 Million Tons of Asbestos into Usable Chemicals

New details have emerged of a plan to remove 30 million tons of asbestos waste from the inactive 1,550-acre Eden-Lowell mine in Vermont. Solution: Move it to a proposed processing plant in Groveton, New Hampshire. The proposal is part of long-term cleanup plan that began in 2013, when officials with the Vermont Asbestos Group reached a settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Vermont state officials. Under the agreement, Vermont Asbestos Group (VAG) will pay past and future cleanup costs and maintain the site, including protecting the public from potential environmental asbestos exposure. The most recent chapter of the plan is to construct a processing plant in an area of a former Groveton paper mill, which city officials say has the natural gas pipeline necessary to convert millions of tons of asbestos waste into chemicals to be used in manufacturing. It would take a $200 million investment, according to Howard Manosh, co-owner of VAG. Manosh told the Caledonian-Record that Groveton officials want the processing plant. The goal now is securing funding from an investment group. Extensive local, state and federal permitting would also be needed to ensure safety standards are met. “This has been five years in the making and would be another five years before it’s done,” Manosh said. “We’ve been working on it for quite a while…Hopefully, we can get something because I think it’s a good chance to remediate the waste piled up there and...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: alternative uses of asbestos waste asbestos mine vermont asbestos runoff watersheds asbestos waste removal plan Belvidere Mountain Caledonian-Record Chrysotile asbestos converting asbestos into chemicals Eden-Lowell asbestos mine environ Source Type: news