Air quality monitor reacts to asbestos regulations in Arkansas

State environmental officials in Arkansas are planning to implement changes to the state’s current asbestos regulations. The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) says that the changes to the current regulations will include lowering fees associated with asbestos-related certification documents and requiring more extensive air quality testing at sites where asbestos removal is ongoing. The new regulations would take effect within three to six months. Exposure to asbestos can lead to the development of mesothelioma, a rare but aggressive cancer.

Mesothelioma can take decades to develop, but may kill within two years of the onset of symptoms.

Arkansas resident Kendall Shelby runs a company in Fort Smith that monitors air quality during asbestos removal projects. "If it’s a small, short project, you know a clearance check is all we do. Anything of larger size we’ll try to throw in a few days of air monitoring just for the benefit of the client," explained Shelby, whose company is relatively small.

"Back a long time ago we had 10, 15 guys in the field and now most companies are fairly small," he said. "As of now I have just three people out there."

But when the new regulations take effect, more extensive monitoring will be needed, and that could require hiring more people. However, Shelby says that for his company, the added cost of hiring more staff will not be a burden. "Probably cost us an additional five percent across the board to do it the way the new regulations will require us to do it," he said, "which is something I think we can live with."

Shelby told reporters that these changes are not totally new, and actually reflect the state of the industry prior to relaxing of regulations in 1997. "We did this already, so it’s not any big change to some companies. Some it will be, but a lot of us already do this to some degree," he said.