DAY 41- DEEP DRILLING STARTS
— Sample results still awaited
— Load refused at La Collette due to asbestos contamination
— Dust monitoring on site is now running – ‘only 2 high readings so far’
— Dust monitors for public still on order.
As the Battle of Flowers happily escapes the rain on the Avenue this afternoon, to the east, deep drilling has started on the Esplanade site in preparation for piling.
Sample results of the fill promised to SOSJ from SoJDC are now 2 weeks overdue and CEO Lee Henry is not responding to requests for information.
We understand that 3 dust monitor stations are now installed on site and there were two high readings last week (over 50 microns per cubic metre). This is not considered a problem by Environmental Health.
The other dust and asbestos fibre monitors which should by now have been installed in the Esplanade area are still on order. The SoJDC did not arrange any baseline monitoring before starting work, so comparative readings will be difficult. However, we are assured this morning by Environmental Health that ‘the public have nothing to worry about’. They say the drilled core is wet and won’t give off dust and the drying dust across the site that was reported last week has been dealt with.
Environmental Health only acts when complaints come in about dust from the public and to date they have received only one whilst we have received several so far. They urge anyone who is worried to phone them on 445808.
Regarding the excavated material: one lorry load was refused at La Collette as it contained asbestos in cement form which is safer as it is not granular. This has been impounded for safe disposal. TTS have an officer from Waste Management on site and he monitors what goes where. This is good news, as in the past, with digs on the Waterfront ‘what went where’ was often arbitrary.
We have raised concerns about the proximity of the excavation to the public – in some case a matter of only a few metres as you can see from this photo taken yesterday. It seem to us common sense to not put oneself close to potential airborne contamination, and a sheet of board just doesn’t seem enough.
There will be a States web link up in due course with real time dust and asbestos particle monitoring. And we will keep you informed as and when results come in.
In closing: When UBS staff (and whoever else is daft enough to lease office space there) move into the building in or after 2017, if the next building does go ahead, the tenants of this one will be treated to months of being exposed to dust and noise and many weeks of being jolted up and down in their chairs when piling starts next door.