Wijedasa, Abeysinghe and Mandanayake
A cement silo at the Elephant Masconite asbestos factory, Mt. Lavinia, burst open last Saturday (17), burying the surrounding neighbourhood in cement dust.
A source at Elephant Masconite, who wished to remain unnamed, said that the cement silo had overfilled and pumped beyond capacity. “It is a rare occurrence. It is the first time in 55 years that this has happened,” he said. “We cleaned up immediately but a small amount of dust settled on the neighbourhood. We are currently taking remedial action. We have put the dust collectors back in operation and are making sure there are indicators so that this does not happen again,” he said.
He added that they had spoken to the neighbours of the asbestos factory, and explained the situation.
Cement dust is known to be hazardous to health and according to scientific studies, can cause ‘lung function impairment, chronic obstructive lung disease, restrictive lung disease, pneumoconiosis and carcinoma of the lungs, stomach and colon. Other studies have shown that cement dust may enter into the systemic circulation and thereby reach essentially all the organs of the body and affect the different tissues including heart, liver, spleen, bone, muscles and hairs and ultimately affect their micro-structure and physiological performance.’ (Source: Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia)
A cyclone of dust: eyewitness
Wijedasa is a security guard at the Chinese Dragon restaurant on Templers Road, which is right opposite the asbestos factory. According to Wijedasa, when he was on guard duty on Saturday 17, he saw what looked like a cyclone of dust. “There was a sudden burst,” he said. According to him, it went on for 10 to 15 minutes. “My uniform turned white with all the dust,” he said. “This had been going on for a few days, but the worst was on Saturday,” he added.
Wimal Mandanayake, who lives nearby, said that the dust came down like a mist and settled over his house, his balcony, and his vehicle. Similarly Nalinka Abeysinghe, who lives next door to Mandanayake said that when they tried to wash off the dust, it turned black. The dust, according to the residents, is difficult to remove and they are still troubled by it.
A matter of concern is how children in the area seem to have fallen sick after the incident. Mahesh Wanigasuriya said that his son was sick and down with a dry cough after the incident. Similarly, the son of his Maldivian tenants came down with a severe wheeze. According to Wanigasuriya, other children too have been affected, and he personally took his neighbour’s son to hospital on Monday night after the normally healthy child developed a bad wheeze.
According to the residents, the authorities, including representatives from the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Health, visited the plant but no directive had been given to the residents, who are still trying to clear off the detrimental dust that has settled on their lives.
http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2011/09/25/cement-dust-from-asbestos-factory-released-into-air/
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