“We don’t have many landfills in Massachusetts, but we do have a lot of landfill restrictions,” declared Dan Costello, president of Costello Dismantling, based in Middleboro, Massachusetts. “Instead of landfills, there is a network of construction and demolition (C&D) processing and recycling facilities, not only in Massachusetts, but around the region that have developed to meet the need of recycling C&D material.”
When it comes to landfill restrictions, Massachusetts appears to be the strictest in the United States, although many see it as enlightened environmental policy, a forerunner of America’s landfill future. “Statewide, I think we have the toughest restrictions in the country,” said Costello.
Jim Colman, assistant commissioner of the Bureau of Waste Prevention for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) said, “If it’s not the strictest, I can tell you it’s among the strictest for sure, but we have not surveyed all the states to know definitively that it is.” ...read more
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PCBs in caulk: a looming issue for the construction and demolition
industry
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) contained in building materials, particularly caulk, are rapidly becoming a large issue for the demolition and construction industry, and for society as a whole. At the same time, environmental remediation of PCBs presents C&D contractors with a widening stream of new revenue opportunities.
John Lloyd, owner of Lloyd’s Construction Services of Savage, Minnesota, is also chairman of the environmental committee of the National Demolition Association. Lloyd said, “If there’s scientific data that proves that PCBs in caulk are harmful to the environment and getting into our waterways, we have to deal with it. Many firms belonging to the Association do environmental remediation. If it is proven harmful we will be there to service that need and do it properly, but we do not want to see unnecessary regulation that raises costs for building owners and eventually for the consumer.” ...read more