Environmental Remedies, Inc. Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What are the steps to the abatement process?
A: "When you first call, our office manager takes down all the relevant facts—what needs to be done, contact information, insurance information and so forth. Then we pass the information to one of our estimators, who will come out, survey the site and provide a price. If you choose to hire us, we’ll schedule the project, submit the necessary notifications to the regulatory agencies and start work. When we finish, you can choose to have air clearance testing conducted to verify the effectiveness of our performance. This is at your discretion or the discretion of your insurance company. The air clearance testing is done by an independent company—you can find them on your own or we can give you a referral. They’ll test the air for asbestos, lead, mold or whatever we removed. If everything is clear and within acceptable levels, we’ll return to the home, remove our plastic and equipment, and leave you with a clean property."
Q: What are the steps to the removal process?
A: "The process may vary slightly from property to property and based on the type of project. However, in general, it’s conceptually the same. We isolate the affected areas from the remainder of the building with polyethylene sheeting. Then we create an airtight, watertight seal around the work area and install HEPA-filtered air filtration devices to capture any dust in the air while the work is performed. The HEPA filters trap 99.97 percent of airborne particles, creating cleaner air than the air we normally breathe. The air filtration devices also create negative pressure within the containment area. Even if there’s a small tear in the plastic sheeting, nothing will escape due to the inflow of air created by the negative pressure.Once containment is in place, we’ll do the demolition and removal, using water misting to keep dust to a minimum. We’ll bag and seal all the debris, remove it from the containment, clean the site, and return to remove our containment and equipment upon receipt of any air clearances. If air clearances aren’t conducted, we typically return 24 hours after the project was completed to remove the containment and equipment."
Q: Do asbestos, lead and mold have to be removed?
A: "It depends. If left undisturbed, asbestos and lead aren’t health threats. If asbestos material has been damaged or lead paint is peeling, or if it’s anticipated that the materials will be disturbed throughout the course of a renovation or repair, then law mandates proper removal of the materials. With mold, it really depends on your sensitivity to the allergen and the particular scenario. There are no laws that specifically require the removal of mold solely due to its presence in a structure."