1 October 1997
All-clear given after Mayo asbestos scare
By Tom Sheil
HEALTH experts have given the all-clear after asbestos was found in a Government Building in Castlebar.
The potentially harmful material was discovered in an existing structure as work continued on providing a multi-million pound extension to Davitt House in Castlebar.
The complex houses in the region of 300 people attached to the Departments of Agriculture and the Marine as well as State Forestry Board Coillte and Teagasc, the Farm Advisory Board.
SAMPLES
Work on the extension was briefly halted as experts took samples of asbestos found in a wall during the re-construction programme.
It was quickly decided that the material posed no health hazard for the workforce and the Trade Unions, representing Civil Servants and other staff, were satisfied with the assurances.
Asbestos was commonly used in the construction of buildings during the sixties and seventies but its use is now outlawed.
DUST
Experts say that when disturbed asbestos breaks into a very fine dust which, when inhaled over a long period, can affect the lung function and breathing.
The most famous case of asbestos pollution concerns the Berlaymont Building in Brussels, housing several thousand EU servants, which has been closed down and encased in tarpaulin because of the high level of the material found there.
A spokesman for the Health and safety Authority said the Davitt House material did not pose any hazard as it was solid asbestos sheeting and not free asbestos.
The spokesman said the removal of the material was in hand and was being done in the proper manner.
He added: "Problems can arise if you have to cut the material with a saw and have particles floating around. If there is cutting the material can be properly dampened down to prevent humans being affected."
