Asbestos found in Court House will be treated for about $29,000 / By Matha Knight

SMETHPORT—McKean County Commissioners have authorized a contract with Northeastern Environmental Management (NEM), of Bradford, to encapsulate up to 1,000 linear feet of asbestos-containing pipe insulation in the McKean County Court House.

Commissioners Joe DeMott, Al Pingie and Cliff Lane took that action at their Tuesday morning meeting. They credited maintenance director Ed Tronetti and others with discovering the asbestos in the course of prepping areas for heating, ventilation and air conditioning upgrades.

The insulation is on piping between floors, meaning over the ceilings of ground floor offices in the A, B and C wings of the court house. The encapsulation cost per linear foot is $29, making the potential cost of the project up to $29,000.

The pipe insulation was missed or omitted when there was a major asbestos abatement project at the court house in the 1980s.

According to the proposal from NEM, the encapsulation will be accomplished by applying a wet wrap seal encasement product. “Negative air” (a slight vacuum) will be maintained in each area being worked on. This is to prevent the escape of asbestos particles. Workers will use glove bags, or mini containments attached to the pipe areas, inside which workers manipulate tools and materials.

NEM will work on weekends and over holidays when necessary, keeping to a minimum the disruption of regular operations in the offices.

A Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry certified asbestos abatement contractor, NEM was organized as a limited liability corporation in 2010. It is headed by Daniel Kellam, and is said to have two employees.

Commissioners voted to enter into a memorandum of understanding between the county and the Headwaters Charitable Trust for administering the PA Wilds Round 19 funding that the county was awarded through a Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) grant.

The costs attached to the PA Wilds support service project include 311 hours of staffing at $50 an hour; $4,600 in operational expenses, $7,050 for a spring briefing event; $5,800 for a trails conference and survey; and $25,000 to award in mini-grants.

The county will transfer $13,500 to the Headwaters organization this month, $35,100 in October and the remaining $5,400 at closeout. The memo states that about $4,000 is expected to be generated through participant fees for the trails conference and the PA Wilds partnership summit.

The Headwaters organization will submit periodic reports to the county for review and submission to the DCNR.

Three county aid applications were approved. They were from Eldred Township, in the amount of $6,831, for purchase of oil and stone for roads; Otto Township, $4,322, a paving project; and Sergeant Township, $1,100, to fill fuel tanks holding diesel and gas.

In other actions, the commissioners approved four service provider agreements as requested by the Department of Human Services, and appointed Ronald Keim to the McKean County Planning Commission for a four-year term.

Dinah Gallegos, director of elections, served as clerk for the meeting, in the vacation absence of chief clerk Audrey Irons.