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MARCOR Newsletter—Fall 2007
- Managing Editor
- Dr. Joan L. Blazucki
- Chief Operating Officer
- D. A. Jungers
Quick Thinking MARCOR Crew Saves Trucker’s Life
The terrible accident happened in the middle of the night along Highway 89, in a remote area of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. A fully loaded 18-wheeler crashed more than 150 feet down the side of a mountain, landing upside down, with the cab separated from the body of the truck and pinning the driver inside with both legs broken, his head split, and other serious injuries.
Early the next morning, a six-person MARCOR crew came upon the scene on the way to a groundwater remediation project at Leviathan Mine. The highway patrol had arrived just ahead of them and assumed the trucker was dead from the looks of the horribly smashed cab.
The MARCOR crew scrambled down the steep incline and removed the debris that had nearly buried the cab so they could get to the driver. They called out to the man and found that he was still alive, but barely conscious. The crew did what they could to control all the bleeding and kept talking to the man to help keep him conscious and responsive. They also saw diesel fuel leaking from the truck, so they disconnected the battery to prevent a fire or explosion.
Severely injured trucker, stabilized for transport
The fire department, ambulance, and medical team arrived at the scene, followed by an emergency transport helicopter. The MARCOR crew helped pull the victim out of the mangled truck cab. Then, while paramedics stabilized the seriously injured man, MARCOR’s personnel built a temporary bridge across a creek – the closest spot that the rescue helicopter could land – then carried the man to the waiting helicopter on a backboard.
Britt Howard, the health and safety coordinator for the Leviathan Mine project (with Geomatrix, a consulting firm), was worried when the always on-time crew was late showing up on the job that day. Concerned, she drove from the mine site along MARCOR’s usual travel route and came upon the accident scene, where the six MARCOR workers were doing what they could to help. Howard summed it all up when she said, “They showed true courage in a dangerous situation, thinking only of saving the man’s life.”
The highway patrol thanked the MARCOR crew for their courageous efforts and quick thinking. Later on, the victim’s girlfriend called MARCOR to voice her thanks and to report that he is slowly recovering.
PCE: The Dry Cleaning Dilemma
MARCOR performed a difficult PCE project at a former dry-cleaning establishment in an active strip mall. Structural support of the building was needed so soil (225 tons) could be excavated up to 15 ft. beneath it.
According to the EPA, drycleaners are the largest single users of perchloroethylene (PCE), a very effective solvent that is denser than water. Accidental releases of this hazardous chemical may seriously contaminate the soil and groundwater, as well as surficial water.
This colorless, chlorinated hydrocarbon solvent, also known as perc, has the potential to cause toxic effects in the liver, kidneys, and central nervous system and is suspected of causing cancer.
If one of the PCE atoms is replaced with hydrogen, the molecule becomes trichloroethylene (TCE). The two chemicals are usually found together, through degradation (via deductive dechlorination). PCE and TCE typically persist in the environment for many years.
When PCE or TCE waste is generated from a business, it is listed under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and subject to cradle-tograve management practices enforced by the EPA. Remediation methods may include installation of a groundwater pump-and treat system, installation of permeable reactive barriers (a passive technology used to treat the contaminants in-situ), or dig-and-haul, which requires excavation and disposal of the contaminated soil as hazardous waste followed by backfilling with clean fill.
According to the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), around 1,300 U.S. SuperFund sites have soil or groundwater that is contaminated with PCE, and more than 1,400 are contaminated with TCE.
Few of us realize that the smell from newly dry-cleaned clothes is actually offgassing PCE. Environmentally friendly drycleaners are emerging, but their cleaning processes are generally more expensive. They use a silicone solvent dry-cleaning method, and may also employ a wet-cleaning method using phosphate-free, nitrate-free detergent.
The EPA is phasing out dry-cleaning machines that use perc and are located in residential buildings by 2020.
Think Green
How Green are Your Blue Jeans?
Before indigo can be used as a dye for blue jeans, it must be treated to make it water-soluble. This is typically done by adding sodium dithionate, a toxic chemical that generates a lot of waste.
Researchers at Reading University in England discovered that a sulfureating bacterium (Clostridium) achieves the same result, but without the toxic waste. Basically, they recreated the technique medieval people once used to dye clothes blue, using fermented leaves from the woad plant. Both the old and new organic methods generate a noxious smell caused by methyl sulphur compounds.
Some major manufacturers are now offering the naturally dyed “green” jeans. These jeans may also contain organic cotton – another plus for ecoconscious consumers.
Green Awareness, Products Increase
Going green is fast becoming mainstream. People and businesses are more environmentally conscious than ever before. Not only is green in vogue, but it is also becoming more affordable over the product life cycle, with more options available—double-skinned curtain walls, chilled beams, actuator-controlled windows, building-integrated photovoltaics, composite decks, aerated concrete siding, underfloor ventilation, methane harvesting, and more.
Smog-Eating Concrete
Photocatalytic concrete uses the sun’s heat to break down airborne industrial particles and smog. Ideally, this self-cleaning concrete cladding would remain a brilliant white for the life of a building. It would reduce maintenance costs for new construction, or it could be mixed as a plaster-like slurry to coat existing buildings being renovated.
Antimicrobial Coatings
Carbon and stainless steels coated with a proprietary, antimicrobial compound can suppress the growth of bacteria, molds, fungi, and other microbes. The coated materials are ideal to use for food processing equipment, HVAC systems, and medical equipment.
“Eventware”
Green events reflect our changing attitudes. Environmentally conscious considerations may include using secondhand and recyclable or biodegradable decorations, invitations embedded with wildflower seeds you can plant and grow, and cutlery made of wheat that you can toss on a compost pile afterwards.
U.S.S. New York
Without a doubt, the U.S.S. New York ranks as one of the most revered and patriotic projects the U.S. has undertaken. Twenty-four tons of steel used in its construction were recovered from the 9/11 World Trade Center rubble and recycled specifically for this use. While under construction in New Orleans, the ship also survived Hurricane Katrina. (MARCOR performed extensive recovery efforts after both of these disasters.)
Green Printing
By choosing paper certified by the international Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), MARCOR proudly shows its support for responsible management of the world's forests. The print version of this newsletter was printed on FSC-certified mixed source paper by Schmitz Press, an FSC-certified printer in Sparks, Md.
Historic Buildings: Go for the Green
You may think that adhering to strict historic preservation guidelines conflicts with updating an old building to make it more environmentally friendly, or green. This does not have to be the case. It is possible to maintain historic integrity in conjunction with going green and removing hazardous materials such as asbestos-containing insulation, PCBs, lead-based paint or plaster, and other dangerous remnants from bygone eras.
Updating and greening-up historic buildings rather than demolishing them not only preserves our precious heritage, but it also reduces construction debris in landfills. Repairing historic details instead of replacing them also lowers the cost of making, transporting, and installing new building materials.
MARCOR is very experienced with selective interior demolition (a ka “soft” demo), as well as hazardous materials abatement from inside difficult-to-access walls and from old, fragile facades. For more information about this specialty service, contact your local MARCOR office or call 1-800-547-0128.
Hazard Watch
Old Apple Orchards & Graveyards
What do old apple orchards and graveyards have in common? Arsenic. Of the EPA’s hit list of the nation’s most toxic chemicals, arsenic ranks number one.
From Civil War times until the early 20th century, arsenic was the main ingredient in embalming fluids – a sanitary and practical way to preserve a body until burial. In 1910, however, the practice was banned, not because of the potential for contaminating our graveyard soils and groundwater, but because it interfered with investigations into suspected poisoning deaths.
Around the same time, arsenic was extensively used as the main ingredient in lead arsenate pesticides, which were predominantly used in apple orchards. Studies have shown that arsenic (an elemental solid) is still present in apple orchard soil as much as a century later!
Scientists recently discovered that a low-dose exposure to arsenic may increase the risk for certain types of cancer, diabetes, and vascular disease. A 1999 report by the National Academy of Sciences confirmed that arsenic in drinking water causes bladder, lung, and skin cancer, and might cause kidney and liver cancer. More recently, a Dartmouth Medical School research team discovered that arsenic may also play a role in endocrine system disruption.
- Symbol for Arsenic:
- As
- Atomic Number:
- 33
- Relative Atomic Mass:
- 74.9216 amu
- Discovery:
- Arsenic has been known to mankind since ancient times.
PCBs in Caulk: Is Your School Safe?
Recently, a number of Northeast school districts learned that polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, were present in the caulk used in their facilities. PCBs at dangerously high levels were also found in nearby soil, due to deterioration of the caulk over time. The problem of PCBs in old caulk may be very widespread.
From about 1950 to 1977, PCBs were a component in caulk for new construction and renovation, especially in schools and other public buildings. Caulk from this time period may also contain asbestos or lead. Contact an environmental consulting firm for testing. Don’t remove the materials yourself!
Proper Handling & Disposal of Ballasts
Fluorescent and high-intensity discharge lamps have ballasts to maintain a constant flow of electricity throughout the bulbs. A typical ballast contains a current-controlling assembly, a thermal protector, and a capacitor. The capacitors of most lamp ballasts manufactured from 1930 until about 1980 contain PCBs. The amount of PCB contained in each varies with the size of the unit.
If a capacitor or ballast is suspected of leaking, take these precautions:
- Avoid direct skin contact. If any PCB gets on your skin, wash immediately and thoroughly with soap and water.
- Remove contaminated clothing without touching the affected area.
- Isolate and demarcate the spill area to ensure that no one comes into direct contact with the fluid.
- Do not attempt to clean up the spill.
Only a properly trained environmental professional should handle and dispose of spills or ballasts containing PCBs.
Crab Mustard: PCBs, Pesticides & Mercury
Most of us know that fish and other seafood may contain mercury. But those who like to eat steamed hard crabs should also be aware that the yellow “mustard” in a crab, considered a delicacy by some, may contain concentrations of PCBs and pesticides, as well as the mercury.
The mustard is actually an organ that is part of the crab’s digestive system. Mustard probably doesn’t cause harm if eaten in small quantities.
Projects
MARCOR: Forrest Gump of Environmental Contractors?
In a Baltimore Sun business feature article, MARCOR has been likened to the movie character Forrest Gump, who was somehow present when notable events in U.S. culture occurred. Like the famous Mr. Gump, MARCOR has been at the scene or had some hand in much of our American heritage, at least since 1980, when MARCOR was founded.
More often than not, however, MARCOR cannot publicly disclose the interesting projects it is performing, but instead works discreetly behind the scenes to clean up, decontaminate, remediate, or even demolish environmentally sensitive artifacts and debris from our everyday life and culture. Some interesting places MARCOR has worked in, on, and around include:
- U.S. Submarine in France - Leadbased Paint Abatement
- Extreme Makeover: Home Edition ABC TV Show) - Asbestos Removal
- Military Quonset Hut - Asbestos
- Historic Sign - Lead Paint Removal; Replacement of 1,100 Light Bulbs
- National Seashore - Sand Dunes Repair
- Space Gyroscope - Decontamination
- Manassas Battlefield Park - Asbestos
- Mausoleum Crypt Doors - Asbestos
- Cold War Era Bunker - Hazardous Coating Removal
- General Patton’s Headquarters - Asbestos Abatement
- Esther Williams’s Swim Tank (used for filming her graceful underwater scenes) - Dismantlement and Demolition
- Post Office - Shooting Cleanup
- Historic Lifesaving Station - Lead
- Movie Set - Special Effects Cleanup
- Thomas Edison’s Lab - Mercury
- Pachyderm House - Asbestos
- Poultry Plant - Multi-state Waterway Cleanup of Catastrophic Tank Failure
- Town of Libby, Montana - Asbestos Abatement and Soil Remediation
- Race Track - Hurricane Recovery
- West Coast Port, Rice Silos - Lead
- Rental Unit - Bed Bugs Eradication
- Airport - Suspected Mad Cow Disease Decontamination
- Former Meth Lab - Decon/Cleanup
- Bell Tower - Pigeon Excrement
- Historic Clock Tower - Lead Paint
- Airport Cargo Services Area - Rodent Infestation Cleanup
- Apartment Unit - Scabies Decon
- Art Deco Skyscraper - Interior Gut
- Florida School District - Hurricane Katrina Disaster Recovery
- AMI Bldg. (Boca Raton) - Anthrax
- Helicopter Blades - Asbestos
- West Coast Jail - Mold
- 286 Train Cars - Asbestos Removal
- Nuclear Power Plant - Hazardous Coatings Removal
- Hart Senate Office Bldg. - Anthrax
- D.C. Steam Tunnels - Asbestos
- Federal Records Center Security Vaults (film archives) - Remediation
- Pentagon - Asbestos Abatement During Terrorist Attack
- U.S.S. Enterprise - Lead Abatement
- Zoo - Storage Tank Management
- Largest U.S. Gun Range - Lead Bullet Recovery and Soil Remediation
- 9/11 World Trade Center Terrorist Attack - Screening/Forensic Recovery
- Harold’s Club (Reno) - Implosion
- The White House - Asbestos
- Hospital Hematology Lab - Mold
- Casino Barge - Flood Recovery
Factoids with an Environmental Flair
Another Product from China
Sometimes a third of the pollution over Los Angeles and San Francisco can be traced directly to China and other Asian countries. A vast plume of dustcontaining man-made sulfates, smog, carbon grit, nitrates, and industrial fumes – as much as 300 miles wide and six miles deep – may travel on prevailing winds across the Pacific.
“There are times when it covers the entire Pacific Ocean basin like a ribbon bent back and forth,” said atmospheric physicist V. Ramanathan at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California.
Tolu and Toluene
The tolu is a slender, Central or South American tree. Its fruits and nuts have been used by indigenous tribes to treat coughs, wounds, and other ailments, and its wood has been used for fine furniture. The tree is also a natural producer of toluene, used as a solvent in nail polishes and as a blending agent in pharmaceuticals. Toluene also occurs naturally in crude oil and is found in cigarette smoke.
A clear, colorless liquid with a distinctive smell, toluene does not accumulate in your system over time or cause cancer, but it may affect one’s nervous system or cause contact dermatitis. Use toluene-containing products only in well-ventilated areas.
