Air quality monitoring to be undertaken at former TBA site

Exposed asbestos in the Spodden Valley

Rochdale Council has agreed to undertake air quality monitoring at the former TBA Site.

Councillors on the Rochdale Township Committee agreed to proposals yesterday (Wednesday 16 September) which will see a firm undertake sampling around the perimeter of the site, to gather data on whether asbestos levels in the air are within expected parameters.

The work is to be undertaken by Bureau Veritas of Didsbury.

Monitoring equipment will be placed at four carefully selected locations. These locations will be secure and between them will cover the full circumference of the site. In order to act as a comparator, it is also proposed that an additional ‘control’ unit should be housed on the roof of Number One Riverside.

The exercise is due to commence in September 2015.

Under the agreed Sample Analysis Plan, monthly samples will then be taken over the next twelve months until August 2016. A total of five samples will be taken each month (including the control sample). Of the four monthly non-control samples, three will be analysed by optical microscopy and one by electron microscopy (which has a high resolution but a greater cost). All filter papers will be retained, thereby giving the Council the option to undertake future electron microscopy. The control sample will be analysed by optical microscopy.

Councillor Shah Wazir said: “This is just a drop in the ocean but at least we will know something. This site is a big problem and it needs tackling. It is not going to go away and this is step one in the right direction.”

Councillor Richard Farnell said: “We owe it to people that they feel safe and that the community they live in is not killing them and get on with it.”

However, Save Spodden Valley campaign co-ordinator Jason Addy has said: “What should be a 'good news' story may actually be cause for grave concern.”

Explaining to Rochdale Online Mr Addy said: “It appears that aspects of the proposed testing is shrouded in some mystery. This may be yet another missed opportunity for expert advice to help create a robust testing procedure to monitor environmental asbestos exposure. Unfortunately this offer of expert help seems to have fallen on deaf ears."

http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/98043/missed-opportunity-for-robust-asbestos-testing