Asbestos is a mineral that has been used in many industries for many centuries. Due to the dangerous nature of the asbestos mineral, it has now started to be banned and heavily restricted. Asbestos was found to cause multiple lung diseases and cancers. Since it’s so dangerous to come in contact with, many buildings across the United States have had to be demolished or have had to go through a lengthy asbestos abatement process in order to remove the asbestos from the buildings. Asbestos can be found in buildings in multiple forms, such as in the roof, ceilings, in tiles, and in the insulation. Although a building may be safe to inhabit that has asbestos in it, as soon as the building faces general wear and tear and the asbestos begins to be exposed, it can cause harm to the people who live or work in the building. Asbestos mines and other areas that contain asbestos can also be a big problem for a community. That is why the Mohawk tribe of Kahnawake is currently working to remove the asbestos on a plot of land within their community. In this article, we’ll talk a bit about the struggles of this process and hear from the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake’s chief, Cody Diabo.

The process of cleaning up the plot of asbestos has been a long and difficult one. According to Diabo, “This was in the works since last year. It was approved last November, but because of the weather conditions, we were only able to clean up one lot, and that was in January. Today (June 10), they should be starting a new lot.” This hopefully means that the plot will soon be removed of the asbestos that plagues it. 

The process will be difficult, though, since the asbestos removal company they have been working with now has new recommendations for the process. “Sanexan recommended the removal of everything, including the soil. The removal is about 18 inches to three feet, generally, depending on how much soil the property has and the size of the lot,” stated Diabo. 

“Some of the lots were pre-approved before, based on the information we had then, but since then, we have gathered more information, so we have hired a consultant to give us a global remediation strategy and a plan of attack. That is what we are going to utilize now. They estimated at least a month before we have that plan of attack,” added Diabo. 

Hopefully this plot of land will soon be removed from the deadly mineral.