Concerns over lead and asbestos in the swath of North St. Louis hit by the May 16 tornado were front and center at an aldermanic hearing last week. Elected leaders stressed that the removal of these hazardous materials absolutely had to be done correctly in the coming months, warning that mistakes could set the city up for long-term catastrophe.
Aldermen sitting on the Public Safety Committee expressed concern that if the cleanup of tornado debris is handled in a way that unleashes toxic material into the air or the ground, “we’re going to have a mile and a half wide swath through the city that just is uninhabitable in the future,” in the words of Committee Chairman Bret Narayan. Others raised worries about future generations becoming sick or the possibility of a class-action lawsuit against the city more than a decade from now.
“If your house was built between 1900 and 1980, it almost certainly has asbestos in it,” noted Narayan. Many, if not most, of the homes in the impacted area fit that criteria. Additionally, lead paint was not banned from homes until 1978. In the wake of the May 16 tornado, many homes containing these hazardous materials are right now lying in ruin, either as piles of debris or structures destined for demolition…