He Barcelona’s town hall reorders a new raid to remove asbestos emerged in the Turó de la Rovira. At the request of the Horta-Guinardó district, a brigade of workers will scour the hill again to clear it of pieces of fiber cement starting Monday.
The findings of the substance toxic, which has been prohibited for sale in Spain since 2002, have been common around the Carmel bunkers for years. They are vestiges of the barracks who populated the enclave where the Republican anti-aircraft batteries tried to scare away the incursions of fascist aviation during the Civil War. The commission against asbestos of the Federation of Neighborhood Associations of Barcelona (FAVB) considers that the measure is “ineffective” in solving the recurring problem of asbestos in the area.
The municipal government of PSC points out that the strong rainsespecially in summer, have contributed to the emergence remains buried from the time of chabolismo in the Turó de la Rovira. Hence, the council hired a specialized company to inspect the area.
The councilor of Horta-Guinardó, Lluís Rabellassured this morning that about 40 kilos of asbestos have been located, less than on other occasions when the precipitation They have caused the substance to appear, harmful when it deteriorates. The dust released when disposed of is a potential cause of cancers lung and other chronic respiratory diseases, which usually appear decades after exposure to uralite, the old trade name of the popular 20th century building material by which it is still known.
“No positive results”
The eradication of asbestos still installed, dangerous with the wear and tear it shows due to aging, is one of the flags of the Barcelona neighborhood movement. The FAVB declares skeptical with specific cleansing of the substance. “The collection of pieces of uralite in the Turó de la Rovira has been done since 2017 without any positive results, because they continue to surface,” questions José Ramón Carme, member of the FAVB anti-asbestos commission and the Can Baró Platform.
The neighborhood representative mentions that the measure entails a spent burdensome and sterile. “We already told the previous district councilor, Rosa Alarcón, not to spend another penny on these interventions,” he recalls. “They are not effective, because the asbestos comes out again due to the erosion“.
Carme explains that, instead of gleaning splinters of fiber cement, the Can Baró Platform advocates for “serious action by lockdown of asbestos” in the Turó de la Rovira, which includes the reforestation of the mountain. The district of Horta-Guinardó indicates that it is studying the possibility of naturalizing the area to try to resolve the setbacks.
“Asbestos is indestructible and old cuttings will emerge, releasing fibers. The only way to contain it in places like the Turó de la Rovira is confinement,” postulates Carme. “It would change the aesthetics of the mountain -defends-. If a network is placed that maintains the vegetal soil, it is reforested with floors appropriate to the area and maintained for at least a year, erosion would be contained and it would be permanently buried.
Located in the batteries
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The company hired by the City Council has geolocated fragments of asbestos throughout September, after identifying it in different points around the anti-aircraft batteries and Marià Labernia street. Carme attests that the presence of asbestos was “scandalous” at the end of August, visible from the roads traveled by neighbors and visitors. “It is necessary to signal the presence of asbestos so that people are more consistent. That’s where they run children and dogs“he warns.
A considerable proportion of the waste They are concentrated in the anti-aircraft batteries, especially on the northern slope. In the bunkers, they have been unearthed pipelines and other pieces that contain asbestos and that, after a recent downpour, have been left outdoors. The City Council maintains that they do not represent a risk now, but they could be in the future. The fiber cement downspouts will be replaced by PVC ones.