Asbestos Abatement of 400ft High Active Concrete Stack

The MACK Group, LLC recently completed the unique and challenging asbestos abatement of a 400 feet high concrete coal-fired power plant stack in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Complicating the project was the requirement that the stack was to remain in operation through the entire asbestos removal operations.

The aging stack of the power plant was in dire need of repairs and a structural carbon fiber shell was proposed for the stack to give it a new life. The advantage of this carbon fiber shell is that it could be installed while the stack remained active and would also allow the stack to be refurbished instead of having to be completely demolished and then rebuild. For this carbon fiber shell to be put in place, all the exterior asbestos-containing paint needed to be removed from the stack.

The MACK Group was contacted by the client to safely remove the asbestos-containing paint while adhering to a strict project schedule as well as compliance with all safety, environmental, and health rules and regulations. The project specifications required the asbestos abatement of 20,000 square feet of asbestos-containing rubberized paint 1/8 inch thick on the exterior of the 400 feet high stack while the stack remained in operation.

Before starting the work, The MACK Group’s asbestos-trained workforce was put through additional project-specific safety training. Training included safety requirements specific to working on a power plant as well as refresher training in fall protection and proper use of hand tools.

To tackle this challenging project, The MACK Group had three (3) 400 ft high pump jack tower platforms surrounding the stack installed. These tower platforms were then enclosed with plastic sheeting and put under HEPA negative air filtration. The MACK Group workers then utilized specialized HEPA-equipped powered hand tools to remove the rubberized asbestos paint. A third-party consultant was utilized for daily monitoring and to ascertain when all ACM had been removed and abatement completed.

During the abatement work, The MACK Group utilized internet-based weather monitoring programs to determine if any severe weather conditions may be approaching the worksite. If any signs of approaching sustained winds or the potential for lighting would immediately initiate a work stoppage until the weather cleared.