Inn Demolition Stirs Complaint

Fiberglass Particles and Debris Floating in Air Bring Worries from
Downtown Businesses; No Notification to DEP

By JOSHUA SABATINI

As demolition of the Tisbury Inn began earlier this week, unexpected
high winds caused bright pink shreds of fiberglass insulation and other
debris from the project to swirl through Main street, prompting
complaints from downtown businesses and beyond.

"My phone was ringing off the hook," said Tisbury health
agent Tom Pachico, who is also a town selectman. He said callers were
worried about the possibility that asbestos and lead paint were mixed in
with the blowing debris.

"There was no asbestos left in the building that we know
of," said Mr. Pachico. He said the inn's owners told him
they had arranged for the prior removal of the toxic material from the
fire-damaged building.

Sherman Goldstein, who owns the inn with his wife Susan, said the
asbestos removal was performed in January by Safe Environmental, of
Springfield, at a cost of $26,000.

A spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Protection,
Theresa Barao, said the Goldsteins obtained the proper waiver from the
agency in January. After the necessary paperwork is filed and a licensed
contractor says it has removed the asbestos, DEP is confident that it
has in fact done so, she said.

But Ms. Barao also said Watercourse Construction, the contracting
company owned by Dale McClure that is in charge of the demolition
process, failed to notify DEP before the project began. DEP contacted
the contractor yesterday, alerting him to the oversight, but did not
order the work to cease.

Mr. McClure is in the process of completing the one-page form to
satisfy DEP's requirements, Ms. Barao said.

According to Kenny Barwick, Tisbury's building and zoning
inspector, the Goldsteins went through the proper town permitting
process as well.

Tuesday afternoon, members of the demolition crew failed to dampen
the bright pink fiberglass they found in the attic before starting to
take it apart. The combination of dry insulation and 35-knot winds
proved a bad one, as fiberglass wafted down Main street.

"It is a disappointment for me," Mr. Goldstein told the
Gazette. "Nobody anticipated the winds. We did everything we
possibly could do." He emphasized that everything toxic was
removed from the building long before the project began.

Mr. Pachico said calls of concern came from as far away as West
Tisbury in addition to many merchants on Main street. One local
pediatrician called, to ask about lead paint after a group of children
were seen in the area watching the building come down.

"There was lead paint in the building, but I don't think
it is made airborne by a demolition project," Mr. Pachico said.
"It is made airborne by sanding."

But he did not completely rule out a health hazard. "Dust is
always a health hazard," said Mr. Pachico.

The board of health did not do any air quality testing, he said.

Selectman Ray LaPorte, who works at Advest Inc., a business near the
former inn, said he also became concerned about the health risks when he
began to see the insulation and dust fly around.

"The job had gone too far for us to ask them to stop, the
building was about to collapse," said Mr. LaPorte, who was visible
outside during the project talking with employees of Tisbury's
department of public works, (DPW), the other selectmen, the inn owners
and Mr. McClure.

Mr. LaPorte said that the town shut down Main street in the evening
hours and DPW spent the remaining daylight hours cleaning up the
streets. "In retrospect," he said, "the project should
have been delayed a day."

Mr. LaPorte said the selectmen had suggested to the contractor that
the insulation be watered down, as is common practice during a
demolition. "That he did it or that he didn't do it was his
decision," said Mr. LaPorte.

Fire chief Dick Clark, who works at Brickman's - located
on Main street across from the inn - said he watched the project
from his window and noticed the wind was blowing the debris directly up
Main street.

Emily Bramhall, owner of Bramhall & Dunn on Main street, said
when she came into the shop at 2:30 p.m. she was really alarmed.
"The pine trees in front of the store were laced with pink
insulation. The fact is, I could see pink insulation in all the eddy and
lee areas. It was all over the rug in the store from people tracking it
in. There were piles all around the back parking lot."

Seeing people walking the streets, a mother pushing a baby in a
carriage, she grew concerned about the health risks.

Heather Shea, an employee at the Rainy Day shop on Main street, had
similar concerns, which prompted her call to the town's health
department. She said she was told that the building had already been
tested and there was no need to worry.

Insulation welled up in front of the two entrances of the Bunch of
Grapes bookstore, said owner Ann Nelson. "A couple of our
employees asked the board of health if there was any asbestos and were
told no," said Ms. Nelson.

"They could have been more prudent in taking that out before
the building came down," she said. "All of us know
fiberglass is an irritant.

"But the health risks were relatively small - we got our
brooms and trash bags and scooped it all up," she added.

Ms. Nelson took the day of pink insulation in stride. "When we
were out cleaning we heard some people say the town should do that. But
if all help each other we would be better off. Sometimes you have to
take the bitter with the sweet.

"When I saw the stuff you know what I wanted to do?" she
asked. "I wanted to pick up the telephone or run to the fire
department and thank them that my building is still standing."

Michael Levandowski, a prominent Main street business owner who
spoke from one of his LeRoux stores, sympathized with the Goldsteins,
but acknowledged he had some concerns.

"The building inevitably had to be taken down," he said.
"I am glad to see it behind us."