|
|
Posted by David Sherman on Saturday, December 01, 2007 at 12:54:21 :
In Reply to: WARNING! posted by MoparNorm on Saturday, December 01, 2007 at 11:23:00 :
I know what the law says, but in terms of toxic waste, I'd be more concerned about the paint dust than the silica. Most old structural steel, including some vehicle frames I've seen, was primed with red lead primer. I'm not saying it'll kill you, but it'll stay in the soil forever, and if anybody tests it, you now have a superfund site. At least that's what's happened around here. They started out testing for lead in the soil in Kellogg, which makes sense because the smelter was right there, but after they got that all cleaned up, they kept expanding the "superfund box" to places farther and farther away in order to keep their "cleanup" operation in business. They sample everybody's yard, and almost all of them are "leaded". They started testing for arsenic a while ago, and now they're finding that too, even though the Bunker Hill smelter never processed arsenic-bearing ores. I'm pretty sure that most of the lead and arsenic they're finding in everybody's yard is from lead paint that's flaked off the houses over the past 100 years, or from lead and arsenic based insecticides that everybody used up till 50 years or so ago. I'm sure if they tested the yards of 100 year old houses in any city, they'd be "leaded". But anyway, it seems to me that it'd be better not to invite trouble down the road by sandblasting lead paint dust all over the yard. Plus, if there are little children who crawl around and eat dirt, it actually can be bad for them. It's not just red lead primer that's toxic. White paint used to use white lead for the pigment, and some colors are chrome-based. Personally, I wouldn't worry about the silica, especially since it's wetted down and not making dust, but I'd be a bit careful with much paint residue. Maybe at least put a big tarp down to collect the majority of it.
Follow Ups: