Distillations Episode 145: Asbestos
From: Chemical Heritage Foundation
Series: Distillations - The Chemistry Podcast
Length: 14:03
Asbestos was once heralded as the ideal building material—light, cheap, and heat resistant—until the health hazards of inhaling it were discovered. By then asbestos could be found in homes, schools, and buildings all over the country. On this episode of Distillations we look at how two Pennsylvania towns are coping with the economic burden of remediating areas contaminated by asbestos. First CHF's Bob Kenworthy explains how Ambler residents have fought to contain the asbestos-laden land left behind by a shuttered manufacturing plant. Then producer Larkin Page-Jacobs visits a Pittsburgh high school that was once an architectural marvel and now sits abandoned due to asbestos.
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Piece Description
Asbestos was once heralded as the ideal building material—light, cheap, and heat resistant—until the health hazards of inhaling it were discovered. By then asbestos could be found in homes, schools, and buildings all over the country. On this episode of Distillations we look at how two Pennsylvania towns are coping with the economic burden of remediating areas contaminated by asbestos. First CHF's Bob Kenworthy explains how Ambler residents have fought to contain the asbestos-laden land left behind by a shuttered manufacturing plant. Then producer Larkin Page-Jacobs visits a Pittsburgh high school that was once an architectural marvel and now sits abandoned due to asbestos.
Broadcast History
Podcast on April 13, 2012.
Timing and Cues
0:00 Opening Credits
0:32 Introduction
1:53 The Ambler Asbestos Waste Piles
5:33 Schenley High School
13:22 Closing Credits
Additional Credits
Special thanks to Bob Kenworthy for researching this show.
Our theme music is composed by Dave Kaufman. Music from the Free Music Archive includes "Banjo Arba Minch Garden," by Cooper-Moore, "Pretty Little Dog," by Shake That Little Foot, and "Live at Festival of Endless Gratitude," by James Blackshaw. Thanks also to the Library of Congress for providing music for "The Globe Trot," by Victor Military Band.
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