A study has been approved to be conducted at the Ritz Carriage House in Elmira, New York in order to determine if asbestos is present in the building. Approval for the study came from the City Council last night and now officials are saying that the building could be demolished by the end of March of this year.
Asbestos must be removed from buildings before they can be demolished in order to prevent exposure to asbestos fibers. Such exposure may lead to the development of any one of a number of asbestos-related diseases which include mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis. Because such diseases tend to take anywhere from twenty to fifty years to show on diagnostic tests it is very difficult to find effective treatment options. In many cases such diseases have already reached advanced stages of development by the time diagnosis is made.
The carriage house was deemed unsafe by city officials last week. The study will take approximately thirty days to complete and demolition is expected to follow shortly after.
A number of older buildings contain asbestos due to the fact that the substance was widely used during the early to mid-twentieth century. Use of the substance did not become regulated until the 1970’s upon the formation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The study and demolition will be funded by the city but the city will take the owner to court to sue for the money in return.
