Martin Tower Dust

Bob Novotnack, emergency management coordinator for Bethlehem, said officials don’t expect any lingering air quality problems(from Martin Tower implosion). He said it’s too early to tell, but the dust was expected from the concrete of the building, but nothing out of the ordinary. What Bob doesn't say that there is nothing ordinary about imploding a 21 story building. On the contrary, it is one of the taller buildings ever imploded. If that isn't enough to worry those concerned about what they inhale, how about the air quality monitoring?  Rather than be performed by Bethlehem or Pennsylvania, the monitoring was done by an outfit working for the developers.

Locally, the only media concerned with this health issue was Bethlehem blogger Ed Gallagher, on his Bethlehem Gadfly.

Novotnack concluded by saying “Coming down just like it was supposed to, and dust being controlled right now, and cleanup taking place, it couldn’t go any better for the city of Bethlehem,”   I don't know about the City of Bethlehem, but for the residents of Bethlehem and the Lehigh Valley, some assurance that there would be no future health consequences was sorely lacking.

ANNOUNCEMENT: In September of 2007,  I introduced Open Mike to the local blogosphere. Readers could comment on any topic they chose. To celebrate this blog's 12th birthday, I am reintroducing the feature this coming Friday. In 2016, to enhance accountability, I eliminated anonymous comments. The Open Mike posts will allow anonymous comments until 7:30PM.