I’ve been doing asbestos abatement work in New York state for 16 years. The following is a brief summary of the typical procedure we follow when removing asbestos-contaminated friable waste from a “small” project (less than 160 square feet of asbestos material) as defined by the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL).

  • A licensed air monitoring firm is contracted to conduct material testing and air monitoring and may act as the abatement contractor supervisor.
  • A licensed abatement contractor is hired to complete the removal project.
  • A paper building occupant notice is placed on entrance doors three days prior to the project’s start.
  • The third-party air monitoring firm collects background air sampling to establish a baseline.
  • The abatement firm mobilizes the project and installs a fully functional decontamination/waste-out system stocked with PPE equipment and cleaning materials. The area is demarcated with “danger asbestos” barrier tapes and signage.
  • The work area is prepped, which includes installing two layers of 6-mil poly at all openings, light fixtures, and outlets within the space. Floors, walls, and non-abatement surfaces are covered with two layers of 6-mil reinforced fire-retardant poly (seams are overlapped and sealed using T-50 staples, spray adhesive, and poly tape to ensure the containment is airtight). HEPA-filtered negative air scrubbers are installed and exhausted to an exterior area that is fenced in with orange temp fencing and demarcated with “danger asbestos” signage and barrier tapes.
  • A pre-abatement waiting period is observed to ensure the containment remains intact while under negative pressure.
  • For the abatement, workers don Tyvek suits, half-face respirators, and gloves and enter the work area to remove the asbestos material using “wet methods” (an airless sprayer is used to wet the material down during bulk removal—NYSDOL explicitly prohibits dry removal). The removed material is immediately placed into 6-mil asbestos waste bags that are then sealed using duct tape. Once bulk removal is complete, all removed material is bagged, cleaned, and placed into a second 6-mil asbestos waste bag. That bag is sealed and labeled with a generator label showing both abatement contractor and homeowner information and then removed from the work area (the waste is later placed into a properly lined waste container before being transported to an approved waste disposal facility). The work area is then HEPA vacuumed and wet-wiped. Once it’s considered clean, the contractor supervisor conducts a visual inspection; if acceptable, the workers decontaminate out of the work area and a post-abatement drying and settling period is observed.
  • The third-party air monitoring firm returns to inspect the work area, and if it’s found acceptable, the firm collects final air clearances and those samples are sent to a testing lab.
  • Once air-sample results are returned and pass the sampling criteria, the abatement crew can return and demobilize the work area. All polyethylene sheeting is carefully dismantled and placed into asbestos waste bags in the same manner as the asbestos waste, as it’s considered part of the project’s waste. Once the containment is removed, the decontamination/waste-out system along with the barrier tapes and signage can be removed from the site. Project is demobilized and considered complete.