Asbestos removal bid approved, for vacant former Dempster Manufacturing plant

BEATRICE – A company has been selected to remove much of the asbestos from the vacant, condemned former Dempster Industries plant in Beatrice.

City Council members Monday night approved the bid of McGill Asbestos Abatement LLC for a total of $148,750. It was among seven bids received by the city, ranging as high as a half-million dollars. There are a few removal areas not included in the bid.

"The roofs have some asbestos in them, covered in tar and they can't take that off without taking off the roof. For safety concerns, none of these seven contractors said they would do that. That will be removed during demolition. When it comes time for demolition, the contractor will just remove the roof, separate that from the rest of the debris and will be handled at that time. The second item that's not included in this bid are some of the windows. Some of the windows have some glazing around them that has asbestos and the only way to reach those is by being on the roof."

City Administrator Tobias Tempelmeyer said the city is seeking grant support to pay for the work and the city would pay the landfill fees for material hauled there.

"McGill says they could start in late June...and they say this kind of work could get done in two to three months. That's what they've been anticipating."

This year, a fire broke out at the property, destroying the central part of the plant area. City Street personnel have been sorting through the debris, including asbestos that came off the building…also doing some hauling of bricks and separating as much metal as possible from the area.

Tempelmeyer says the asbestos doesn’t present a public hazard for surrounding areas. "For the public, if you're hearing there's asbestos down there, this asbestos is encapsulated in tar. It's not going anywhere, it's not getting out into the air, it's not leaking. When you take it off, it's a big, giant bucket of tar, is what's left. It will all be disposed of, properly."

Earlier, officials mapped out where and in what buildings the asbestos is located. Some had already been removed. The removal of all the material must be completed, before demolition can proceed. The City of Beatrice now owns all of the parcels of the site, with the exception of a part of the west area of the property.
Asbestos removal, Tempelmeyer says, was not in the budget, but will be paid for through the city’s general fund….which has benefitted from higher sales tax revenue and higher interest income.