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44 • July 2005 • CleanerTimes
sbestos-containing products appear in
many forms. Indoors they may take the form of insula-
tion on hot water piping or heating ducts, fireproof-
ing, mastic, transite panels, or sealing compounds
used with flue pipes. Asbestos may also be found in
floor tiles, sheet flooring, popcorn ceiling, linoleum,
texture coat, drywall, ceiling tiles, acoustical finishes,
or as wall and attic insulation. Exterior uses include
shingles, siding materials, and asbestos cement pipes.
Until the 1970s, asbestos was specified extensive-
ly for building and industrial applications. Today, it
is a widely known fact that human exposure to
asbestos fibers can, over time, be hazardous if not
lethal. For this reason, asbestos is rarely utilized in
modern products and processes.
Asbestos abatement and removal procedures must
conform to strict regulatory guidelines due to the
hazardous nature of airborne asbestos fibers. Rigorous
safety measures have been enacted by municipal,
state, and federal agencies and law makers to ensure
that asbestos materials are removed without risk to
human health and safety.
The Scare Period
During the time that the “asbestos scare” was
going on, a contractor stripped asbestos in down-
town San Francisco using ultra-high water pressure
Figure 1—This sprayed-on asbestos is being cut and lifted bya water jet. Photo courtesy of Yankee Fiber Control.
Figure 2—The loosened asbestos falls off. Photo courtesy ofYankee Fiber Control.
Figure 3—Asbestos coating removal from a vertical surface.Photo courtesy of Yankee Fiber Control.
Figure 4—Asbestos coating being removed from silos.Photo courtesy of HydroChem Industrial Services.
VIEWPOINT
Waterjetting
for Asbestos
Abatementby Lydia Frenzel, Ph.D.
A
For information circle 211
46 • July 2005 • CleanerTimes
equipment provided by Frank Moll
at HydroChem. Articles about work-
ers removing asbestos without ade-
quate protection and consequently
having health problems and expos-
ing the public appeared daily. Yet
this stripping was routine and with-
out a lot of fuss. People went past
the building without realizing what
was happening. Air monitoring
showed exposure below limits.
Frank Moll’s comments at the
time included: “We provide indus-
trial cleaning services. We are not an
asbestos abatement company or a
hazardous waste management com-
pany. We work with the abatement
companies. We monitor our peo-
ple and procedures very carefully.”
A Business Opportunity?
Cleaner Times ran an article,
“Asbestos Abatement: A Business
Opportunity?” in July 2003. I asked
Frank Moll what he thought about
the business opportunity now—
had the time come and passed where
asbestos removal is a growing busi-
ness? Asbestos abatement is highly
competitive. Most jobs will not pay
to have one more subcontractor
who rents equipment. It gets diffi-
cult setting your company up for
asbestos abatement unless you are
committing to get into it full-time.
Finally, it is very common for com-
petitors to use low pressure (1500-
3000 psi) for removal and cleanup of
sprayed-on insulation. He believes
that the opportunity is for abate-
ment contractors to start getting
into the hydroblasting market rather
than hydroblasters getting into the
asbestos market.
On the other hand, James Hutzler
of Yankee Fiber Control in Rhode
Island says asbestos removal is their
specialty, and they have been doing
it for about 21 years. Yankee Fiber
was the first contractor in Rhode
Island to receive a license. Hutzler
emphasizes, “Asbestos removal
with pressurized water is not a job
for the weak.”
Removing asbestos materials is
a serious undertaking, and it is ex-
tremely tedious, requiring a method-
ical approach. Yankee Fiber uses
diesel-powered HEPA-filtered vac-
uums to collect up to 18 tons of as-
bestos waste per hour. The jetting
and collection process is performed
in a fully-contained negative-pres-
sure environment that releases no
asbestos fibers into the outside air.
Federal Regulations
By law, you normally have to
remove asbestos wet. But that means
you literally can use a garden hose
to keep the asbestos wet. If you
don’t know what you are doing,
you can get into trouble quickly.
Both OSHA and EPA requirements
and regulations must be followed,
as well as any state and local regu-
lations. OSHA regulations require
engineering controls for exposure.
In CFR 1926.1101, OSHA regulates
asbestos exposure in all work as
defined in 29 CFR 1910.12(b). OSHA
1926, “Safety and Health Regulations
for Construction” also applies. EPA
regulations cover the handling and
disposal of hazardous materials.For information circle 66
CleanerTimes • July 2005 • 47
Doing the Work
Asbestos removal via pressur-
ized water is especially effective
where a layer of asbestos has been
sprayed onto structural steel to pro-
tect it from the heat of a fire. Yankee
Fiber started out using a 2000–3000
psi power washer. They got a lot of
asbestos off, but they found that
the water spray tended to simply re-
arrange the asbestos. The result was
a wet pulp of asbestos and water.
They were using 5 gpm and could-
n’t handle the volume of water, so
they went back to the manual “ice
scraper” method.
In the late 1980s, when people
started to experiment with 10,000 psi
water jets, Yankee Fiber began to
use 10,000 psi cleaning, and it worked
tremendously. Water jetting is about
10 times as efficient as manual meth-
ods. Currently, Yankee Fiber has
gone to 36,000–40,000 psi waterjet
cleaning. Ultra-high pressure water-
jet cleaning yields even greater pro-
ductivity because you don’t have so
much splatter and you have focused
energy at low flows. (Figure 1) You
don’t have to control so much water,
and the sprayed-on asbestos just
falls off. (Figure 2)
Pressurized water is also used
to remove the mastic that holds
vinyl tiles down, competing against
a method that uses recyclable steel
shot. Using the 40,000 psi floor
machines, the mastic comes right
up. There are also equipment con-
figurations for cleaning walls.
(Figures 3 and 4)
When you get rid of the asbestos,
you have to bag it up wet. Hence the
reduction in waste when there is
less water. You keep the asbestos
wet all the way through. At 10,000 psi,
Yankee Fiber had to control the waste-
water because they had more water
than they could handle. Using 40,000
psi waterjet cleaning at 2 gpm, they
have to add water to the waste.
Currently Yankee Fiber is decon-
taminating a nuclear power plant by
removing the asbestos mastic from
the foundation. The radiation is
very low-level, but the amount of
waste is critical. If they were to
sandblast the foundation, they would
end up with tons upon tons of a
highly regulated waste. With water,
Yankee Fiber can remove the asbestos
with very, very little blast media
(water), resulting in pollution pre-
vention and waste reduction.
Implications for Wannabes
The typical pressure washer con-
tractor should realize that there are
several things going on. Historically
the cleaning industries, and the
paint industry, have not done a lot
of training except as required by
state and federal law. The use of a
40K machine is very sophisticated
and requires good pump mainte-
nance. A lot of the asbestos removal
contractors are geared towards
extensive use of labor where the
labor force is not necessarily mechan-
ically inclined. The guys can’t just
walk in and run the machine or use
the guns. There are some very well
trained asbestos removal person-
nel who, if given a 40K pressurized
For information circle 117
7691 Central Avenue NE, Suite 201Fridley, MN 55432Toll Free: 800-441-0111 or 763-786-9200Fax: 763-786-7775 • Email: [email protected]
®Cleaning Equipment Trade Association
Call Today for Your Free Information Packet! Call 800-441-0111 Or Email [email protected]
Make plans now to join us for this once a year event… Your competitors will be there!
Myrtle Beach, SC • October 9–11, 2005(Exhibit Days Oct. 10–11)
2005 2005EXTRA!!EXTRA!!
Myrtle Beach Braces for a Wave of Shucking &Chucking at PowerClean’sOpening Reception onSunday, October 9, 2005!
Industry professionals from coastal areas around the world will put on
the gloves and pick up the knife to determine the CETA PowerClean 2005
Oyster Shucking Champion. Industry professionals from land locked areas
will compete in the chucking contest. Earlier in the day will be two other
“don’t miss” events to choose from, the Fifth Annual Golf Tournament or
the Companion Tour of Charleston.
48 • July 2005 • CleanerTimes
water gun, would be able to run it
for maybe an hour at best.
On the other hand, the pressure
washer contractors are skilled in
the use of equipment. However,
when a contractor goes in and
sees what is required to get an as-
bestos removal license, he is just
knocked over by all the regulatory
requirements. The opportunity lies
in renting equipment with daily
maintenance.
How does HydroChem manage
their health and safety programs
over diverse types of jobs so that they
can remove asbestos safely and effi-
ciently, but not be a primary haz-
ardous abatement contractor? They
rent the equipment to a licensed
abatement contractor and provide the
maintenance. During each job, they
conduct tailgate safety meetings to
review the previous day’s progress
and to discuss the coming day’s
work so that employees are fully
aware of their responsibilities and
safety precautions.
The Bottom Line
Is there an opportunity for contract
cleaners and high-pressure water-
jet contractors to get into asbestos
abatement? Definitely yes. As in all
businesses, you need to know the
ground rules. You must be willing to
be methodical, and learn both the
equipment and the regulatory sides.
Both Hutzler and Moll agree that
the opportunity is for the industrial
service contractor to provide the
machine to the abatement contractor
and do daily on-site maintenance.
Unless you plan to do asbestos abate-
ment every day, you don’t want to
take on becoming a licensed abate-
ment contractor with all the training
and paperwork it entails.
Lydia Frenzel, Ph.D. is executive
director of the Advisory Council. She
is an industry resource and works as
a proactive advocate for emerging
technology. She shares her knowledge
and experience through custom
courses, educational modules, and
presentations. Photos courtesy of
Lydia Frenzel. CT
Best by Test - Kränzle
In tests by an independent laboratory, Kränzle
electric pressure washers were ranked #1 and #2
8 0 0 - 5 4 4 - 1 1 8 8
w w w . d i r t k i l l e r . c o m
• Cleaning • Cyclic endurance • Ease of assembly
• Power consumption and input voltage • Self-priming
• Ability to run-dry and in by-pass
Dirt Killer Pressure Washers is an ISO 9001 certified company.
Tests conducted by MET Laboratories. Tests included:
For information circle 37
For information circle 224