[CPEO-MEF] Asbestos info came late, some at Lowry say

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Colorado
THE DENVER POST
Asbestos info came late, some at Lowry say
By Kristi Arellano, Denver Post Business Writer
April 26, 2003

Some residents and home buyers at the former Lowry Air Force Base said
they should have been told sooner that materials containing asbestos
were found near their homes.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment stopped
excavation on part of the redevelopment site Thursday because asbestos
had been found in the soil.

Residents were notified in letters sent in December and again this
month. But the first discovery of asbestos-containing material came in
June.

"We wouldn't have bought if we had known," said one woman who asked not
to be identified. She moved into Lowry's Northwest neighborhood, where
the asbestos was found, just two weeks ago.

Builders in the neighborhood's northern area - between East Eighth and
East 11th avenues, Quebec Street and Uinta Way - cannot continue
excavating until the Lowry Redevelopment Authority submits a plan to
test for and remove asbestos on the site.

The parcel is still being developed and hosts roughly 100 occupied
homes.

Most of the asbestos was found on land that crews were preparing for
construction, except for two instances where small fragments were found
in homeowners' yards.

Lowry officials didn't tell residents about the first asbestos fragment
- a piece of pipe found in June - because it was believed to be an
isolated incident, said Tom Markham, redevelopment authority executive
director.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~1351374,00.html

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