Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Dust from construction concerns nearby residents
Villanova University expert says procedures are in place to contain the dust
RADNOR >> Some Radnor residents who live near the site of the Villanova University construction are concerned about the dust it’s generating.
Construction is underway on a new garage and dormitories on the south side of Lancaster Avenue. A performing arts center is also planned. The Radnor Township Board of Health is getting involved, after members discussed the dust issue at its December meeting. Health Board Chairman Dr. Andrew Forman said that he plans to attend the Villanova Project Communication & Review Committee (CARE) meeting on Jan. 4. He noted that federal and state agencies regulate air quality.
“The township can go above and beyond,” said heath board Member Joan Capuzzi. “I drive by the site every day taking my kids to school and the Villanova [students are] walking through a lot of dust. If I were a parent of a Villanova student, I wouldn’t be thrilled about that.” She suggested the university place tarps around the construction site to “help contain the dust.”
Forman said that students could be offered face masks and also alerted to when conditions would be dusty.
Students are not the only concern, but nearby residents with small children and the elderly “are impacted by the air quality,” said Roberta Winters, a resident.
Toni Bailey, another resident, said that she walks her dog in the area and has also noticed more dust inside her house since the construction began.
Jane Galli, a resident and member of Villanova CARE, said that she is concerned about possible asbestos in the asphalt that will soon be dug up as construction continues on the former 13acre parking lot. Galli said that Villanova did not plan to use core samples to ascertain what the composition of the asphalt is and those core samples are not required.
The issue of dust in the air was also discussed at the November CARE meeting.
At that meeting, Alice Lenthe, director of environmental health and safety for Villanova, said that she makes sure that the university is complying with all environmental regulations. There are procedures in place for soil management and that is how dust emissions from the construction site are controlled, she said. The driveways onto the construction site, as well as parking areas, are gravel rather than dirt and speed is limited to 15-mph. Water is misted three times a day to keep dust out of the air and a street sweeper runs over the nearby paved streets. All truck tires are cleaned before the vehicles leave the site and piles of soil are minimized and seeded with grass so dirt does not blow off them. But “dust does occur,” she said. Also, the project is being completed in phases and that tends to minimize the dust, she said.
“I would say the dust control measures that our contractor is using define best practices,” said Lenthe. “I don’t see any health hazard.”
In addition, students have minimal exposure to it and neither students nor their parents have complained, she said.
However, Robert Zienkowski, township manager, said, “I think the contractor has under-performed in this area of dust control.” Township officials have spoken to him and “I look for
the contractor doing much better…We’ll be more diligent of them. They should have done a much better job.”
Zienkowkski said one of the inspectors hired by the township to oversee the site has been terminated
“for not doing a good enough job.”
Lenthe said, “I think they do a good job compared to other contractors.”
Commissioner Phil Ahr, who chairs Villanova CARE, asked Lenthe what would cause her to be concerned.
“If I saw a lot of dirt on the road,” she said.
Ahr asked what people with respiratory issues
could do for “their own personal protection.”
Christopher Kovolski, assistant vice president for external and government affairs with Villanova, said he spoke to the director of the university’s health center who said there were more seasonal allergy complaints this fall but those were campuswide and were not linked to the construction site.