Tornado Order: Emergency Demolition With Fireproofing Still On
An EF-3 tornado strikes a Missouri town on a Wednesday. A 1958 three-story department store loses part of its roof; the city engineer inspects and issues a written order on Thursday declaring the remaining masonry wall structurally unsound and in danger of imminent collapse, ordering demolition within 72 hours. The owner's pre-demolition survey, done two years earlier, found 400 linear feet of friable pipe insulation, 1,200 square feet of sprayed-on fireproofing at 15% chrysotile, and Transite roof panels. The owner tells the contractor to "bulldoze it Friday and pull the insulation out of the rubble later, and skip the 10-day notice because this is an emergency." The general contractor's equipment operator has no asbestos training.
1. Does the city's emergency demolition order excuse the 10-working-day notification? What must be filed, and by when?
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Only as to timing, and only because the facts fit a narrow provision. 40 CFR 61.145(a)(3) covers a demolition ordered by a state or local government agency because the facility is structurally unsound and in danger of imminent collapse: the owner/operator must still notify, but may do so as soon as possible and no later than the following working day. A Thursday written order citing imminent collapse fits, so notify by Friday - same form, all information known at the time, supplemented later. Keep the order in the project file.
Two cautions:
- The provision is narrow. It covers government-ordered demolition for imminent collapse, not a business decision, an aggressive schedule, or general tornado damage without the order. If the order were a nuisance-abatement notice or the building were repairable, the full 10 working days apply.
- Accepting the notice is not approval of the work practices. The emergency provision shortens the notice period only; it changes nothing about how the ACM must be handled.
2. Can the friable fireproofing and pipe insulation be demolished with the structure and sorted out of the rubble afterward?
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No. 61.145(c)(1) requires all friable ACM - and Category I and II nonfriable that will become friable - to be removed before demolition begins. That covers the 1,200 sf of sprayed-on fireproofing and the 400 lf of pipe insulation regardless of the collapse order. Only a written waiver from the EPA Administrator changes that, and such waivers are rare. If the crew cannot reach all the fireproofing before the wall comes down, the owner should request the waiver in writing rather than assume one.
The practical reasons match the regulatory one: bringing the structure down onto 15% chrysotile fireproofing aerosolizes it, spreads contamination across the rubble pile, and turns an easily bagged material into mixed waste that most landfills will refuse under 61.150.
The Transite roof panels are Category II nonfriable and may come down with the structure if they stay intact and are not crumbled, but they still must be handled and disposed of as asbestos waste.
3. The owner still wants the wall down within 72 hours. How do you reconcile that with the untrained equipment operator and the accreditation requirements?
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Separate the two kinds of work. Knocking down a building after RACM is removed is demolition, not abatement, and the equipment operator does not need abatement accreditation for that. But the operator cannot remove fireproofing or pipe insulation.
So the friable removal must be done by an accredited abatement contractor, supervisor, and workers, with containment where practicable. Open-air removal during a structural emergency needs a written plan covering wet methods, ground covering, and perimeter air monitoring. Meanwhile, the untrained operator must be kept out of any area where ACM is being or has been disturbed - driving over a rubble pile containing ACM is maintenance-type work with its own training, PPE, and exposure limits under 29 CFR 1926.1101.
If 72 hours genuinely conflicts with safe removal, document the conflict and request the written waiver described above. That paper trail is what protects the owner when the state or EPA reviews the file later.