Willebroek (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Workers found hidden asbestos while demolishing a former school for a new roundabout in Willebroek, Belgium. Demolition stopped. Alderman Luc Spiessens (N-VA Team Eddy) says cleanup will cost hundreds of thousands and delay the project.
A school building was going to be torn down to make room for a new roundabout in Willebroek, Belgium. But when workers started taking the building apart, they found a hidden layer of asbestos. This asbestos was hidden inside the building and wasn’t found during the initial checks.
The city official in charge of public works, Luc Spiessens, said they have to be careful because asbestos can make people sick. Asbestos is dangerous and needs to be removed carefully. He mentioned that the demolition had to be stopped until the asbestos could be removed.
We are demolishing the former school building because a roundabout is coming on that spot,
says Alderman Luc Spiessens (N-VA Team Eddy).
How will Willebroek handle asbestos delays in school demolition?
According to the city official, it was a big problem, both for the money and the time it would take to finish the project. They had to clean up the asbestos before they could continue building the roundabout. The city said that keeping people safe and protecting the environment was the most important thing.
A line through the account, also literally
according to Luc Spiessens.
As the workers discovered the asbestos, they immediately covered it with earth so that it did not spread further. It was a short-term solution until the city discovered a way of safely removing the asbestos. They mentioned that because of strict rules about asbestos, the cleanup has to be done very carefully to avoid harming people or the environment. This will take a lot of planning and following safety rules.
The removal and processing of asbestos must be done under strict conditions, and that costs something, for us it is a financial blow,
says Alderman Spiessens.
It will certainly cost several hundred thousand euros extra.
According to the city officials, it would cost a lot of extra money to clean up the asbestos. He said it would be hundreds of thousands of euros more than they expected. The city was planning to tear down the old school and build a roundabout there. But they can’t do any more work until the asbestos is gone. They mentioned that the project would take longer and cost more money.
