Articles Tagged with Asbestos Abatement

Many of the beautiful old structures in cities and towns across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts were built during a time when asbestos was heavily used in most or all aspects of construction.

According to a recent news article from Wicked Local Wellesley, the Town of Wellesley is nearing the point when it can finally raze the building that once housed St. James Church and its rectory. The building has been vacant for years, after it the town purchased it from the Boston Archdioceses that once owned the church. The town bought the old building so it could tear it down and use the parcel of land on which it now sits alongside Route 9 as a new recreation complex for residents of the town. Continue reading

According to a recent feature from ABC News 10, two full-time employees of University of California Davis and five students have decided to blow the whistle on what they consider to be a problem dating back several years. These seven individuals have filed whistleblower complaints with UC Berkeley.

All of these whistleblowers work in the technology department, where they are responsible for bringing audiovisual equipment to various classrooms and offices when it is needed. There are four other employees working in their department. The focus of their complaints revolves around the fact that they are required to drill holes in walls and other structures in order to install equipment. Continue reading

According to a recent news article from the Millbury Sutton Chronicle, local legislators have finally been successful in their long-standing effort to find funding to renovate the Grass Hill School. This historic school was constructed in 1861. The town operated the school until 1968 when it was closed. A local historical society championed a project following the school closure to have it restored and named a National Historic Landmark. The society also wants the old school added to the Register of Historic Places for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

As part of their bid to have this old school named an historic place on the state and federal lists, there needs to a serious amount of renovations to make the structure safe for public use. Even if it is never used as a school again, in order to use the property as museum or local office building (it is common to use historic Massachusetts buildings for local municipal offices) it must be upgraded and made compliant with building codes. However, before any work can be done, the city must deal with removing the asbestos known to be present in the old school. Continue reading

Asbestos removal is a complicated process. When a landowner knows or has reason to know there is asbestos present in an owned structure and has renovation or demolition plans, there are certain steps that must be taken to prevent asbestos exposure that could harm workers or cause environmental damage.

First, licensed asbestos inspector must be hired to determine if asbestos is actually present. There are a lot of telltale signs that a certain building material contains asbestos, such as nine inch by nine inch or 12 by 12 inch linoleum tiles manufactured during the 1970s. However, the only way to be sure is to have a sample of the material cut out and sent to a testing laboratory where a microscopic examination can be performed to see if the asbestos fibers are present. Continue reading

According to a recent article from Wicked Local Boxford, Massachusetts State Police troopers arrested a 46-year-old man on charges stemming from an alleged home improvement scam. He is currently being held on $750,000 cash bail and is scheduled to be arraigned in the Salem District Court.

Prosecutors specifically charged Defendant with two counts of larceny over $250, which is felony larceny (theft) in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, larceny on person older than 65 (theft from an elderly victim), working as a home improvement contractor without a license, forgery, utterance of a false document, perjury, and various other financial and theft crimes related to his home improvement business. Continue reading

According to a recent news feature from Mass Live, the town of Wilbraham, Massachusetts plans to foreclose on the old Belli’s nightclub, which has been closed for more than 15 years. The building on the site was first constructed in 1920 and has housed various restaurants over the years, but it is most famous to local residents as the site of a nightclub that featured dancing women.

The property in its current state is valued at around $190,000, but the current owner owes more than $70,000 in back taxes. The town administrator has announced his desire to proceed with a long rumored foreclosure and tax sale of the property. Continue reading