Community Conversation:
Join us 7 p.m. tonight for a discussion about what s happening with the town s asbestos removal and the possibility for redevelopment at the old Linden Mill.
The event is free, but
In this hourlong special, we ll hear stories about asbestos at an old, brick textile mill in Davidson, North Carolina, and how redevelopment might solve the problem. We ll learn how asbestos got into both the historically Black neighborhood nearby and elsewhere in town and how it s being cleaned up. And we ll talk to residents worried about how fixing one problem might contribute to another gentrification.
Rather read than listen to the audio? Read the transcript.
WFAE
Contractors for Charlotte Water remove asbestos-laden soil from Sloan Street in Davidson during a water main upgrade project in January.
The Environmental Protection Agency will be back in Davidson next week to start another round of asbestos cleanups, including a town park.
The EPA tested 136 properties on the town s historically African American West Side last summer and fall and found unsafe levels of asbestos at 11. The asbestos came from an old mill nearby that made asbestos from 1930 to about 1970.
Officials say waste asbestos was used as fill in yards and driveways and in the town s Roosevelt Wilson Park. It s a concern because if asbestos fibers become airborne and are inhaled, they can cause cancer and other lung diseases.
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An updated map shows private properties that have been tested for asbestos on Davidson s West Side. Those in orange tested positive for asbestos and are expected to have soil removed and replaced in late January or early February.
Environmental Protection Agency contractors will be back in Davidson on Wednesday for more soil tests at homes near an old asbestos mill. They re trying to see if any additional properties are contaminated with asbestos from the former Carolina Asbestos factory near downtown.
The old mill operated from the 1930s to the 1960s, producing asbestos fabric, tiles and shingles. Waste material was tossed into a ditch, and sometimes used as fill in nearby yards and driveways.