asbestos roofing

jennypdolphin

Hi I was given some roof panels on freecycle, the couple were very kind and let me organise a man in a van to collect them; when attempting to fit them I was informed by a friend (with knowledge in this area) that they were asbestos and as such illegal to use and would cost me to dispose of them.

I am annoyed that someone would have willingly sent these to me and have so far emailed them stating simply

"Hi, on attempting to use the roof panels we have discovered that they are asbestos and illegal to use, as I have two small children I cannot have them in my garden."

What outcome would you wish for in this situation? I havent got a suitable vehicle to transport them to the necessary disposal facility (nor the money now to hire one and purchase a permit and suitable bags etc)

What should I do?

emerald_starcat

Maybe the couple giving them away didn't realise they were asbestos. Can't you just take them back to them - if they are not in leave them outside their front door with a polite note.

jennypdolphin

I dont have a vehicle to take them in and cant really afford to hire another van - especially as I just had to pay out for new sheeting to replace where the second hand sheets were meant to go

Mrs_justjohn

I am not sure what you can do...but I do know that not everyone charges for disposal of it. Phone your council and see what they suggest. My coucil provide the bags and you have to double bag it and take it to the dump. They are normally pretty helpful. They prefer to help you dispose of it safely rather than have you 'dump it' somewhere - not suggesting you would do this but I am sure some peeps would!

I do not think you can blame the 'seller' as they may not have known?

jennypdolphin

I have checked online my council charges for £2.20 per bag - which you need 2 bags for each sheet there are ten sheets so that's £44 in bags, plus hiring a vehicle to get them to the dump and how ever much it is to get the relevant permit (I dont know if the bags would fit more than one sheet so I've calculated it as one sheet per bag)

jennypdolphin

I know they have a van so I'm hoping that they'll at least offer to assist in the disposal.

soolin

I'm not sure exactly what you want here?

You got somehting for free, it is completely unsuitable for use and as ti is dangerous you cannot use it, therefore you either dispose of it at your own cost, or ask the person who gave it to you to come and collect. However do you really want it on your property for months waiting on the off chance they will collect it?

Firstly is your friend 100% sure it is asbestos? If so if you can't afford to dump it you'll have to seal it and store it, I honestly can't see another option.

Asbestos is safe unless damaged, if damaged or drilled phone council and report a hazard as they may have a cheaper rate then for removing it safely.

jennypdolphin

Ithink half the problem is I'm not exactly sure what I want or expect here it has holes drilled from where it was attached to their roof and fresher chips (and a crack) from the removal and transportation. i will email my council and ask for help/guidance.

Hintza

This will be whie asbestos and in no way related to the very dangerous blue asbestos.

This is just one of the health and safety scams:-

First, it was discovered that the blue and brown forms of asbestos, amphiboles, had caused a major public health disaster, leading to thousands of deaths. But this genuine disaster was then used to demonise a wholly different and much commoner material, white asbestos or chrysotile, which – particularly in its most widespread form, as asbestos cement - has now been definitively shown by leading scientists to pose no measurable risk to human health.
Yet this confusion, now in many countries enshrined in law, has been made the basis for two immense financial scams.*

* http://www.asbestoswatchdog.co.uk/Science/scaredtodeath.html

jennypdolphin

Hi I know that white asbestos has curly fibres not straight and was initiallly thought not to cause health problems but was still made illegal anyway.
accoprding to a couple of sites I've looked at:

"There are three main types of asbestos still found in premises. These are commonly called ‘blue asbestos’ (crocidolite), ‘brown asbestos’ (amosite) and ‘white asbestos’ (chrysotile). All of them are dangerous, but blue and brown asbestos are more hazardous than white. You cannot identify them just by their colour. Although it is now illegal to use asbestos in the construction or refurbishment of any premises, many thousands of tonnes of it were used in the past and much of it is still in place. As long as it is in good condition and is not being or going to be disturbed or damaged there is no risk. But if it is disturbed or damaged, it can become a danger to health, because asbestos fibres are released into the air and people can breathe them in. "

jason_nevin

Hintza wrote: »

This will be whie asbestos and in no way related to the very dangerous blue asbestos.

This is just one of the health and safety scams:-

First, it was discovered that the blue and brown forms of asbestos, amphiboles, had caused a major public health disaster, leading to thousands of deaths. But this genuine disaster was then used to demonise a wholly different and much commoner material, white asbestos or chrysotile, which – particularly in its most widespread form, as asbestos cement - has now been definitively shown by leading scientists to pose no measurable risk to human health.
Yet this confusion, now in many countries enshrined in law, has been made the basis for two immense financial scams.*

* http://www.asbestoswatchdog.co.uk/Science/scaredtodeath.html

Its important to say that these are the personal views of the person that runs that site and that a number of organisations (including the World Health Organisation) claim that Chrysotile asbestos poses a considerable danger to health.

Some (not so light) reading;

http://www.who.int/occupational_health/topics/asbestos_documents/en/index.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1531446/Christopher-Bookers-Notebook.html