"They put the health of the neighbours at risk": complaints in the Eixample due to construction work in a building with asbestos

BarcelonaPieces of rubble falling from above onto a huge roof of asbestos. This is the landscape that the residents of the Eixample block between the streets Consells de Cent, Aragó, Paseo de Sant Joan and Bailèn have to live with since the beginning of the year. Some, like Paolo, see it up close. His window is right above the roof, which has asbestos. He hasn't opened it for almost two months for anything.

"I can't believe they're putting us at risk," laments this resident of one of the buildings that share the interior of the block where the work is being done. He has a newborn baby and a four-year-old. At the beginning of January, while working from home, he started to hear knocks. When he looked out of the window he saw how from the building under construction at 427 Consell de Cent Street – the former headquarters ofThe Newspaper– The workers dropped the rubble onto the asbestos-covered building.

The videos to which the ARA has had access confirm this. In the images you can see how, suddenly, a shower of rubble falls with force onto the asbestos roof, breaking some parts. The neighbours explain that in some cases even whole air conditioning units have been thrown. A practice that, they warn, increases the probability of releasing asbestos particles, with the consequent risk to health that this entails.

Banned since 2002 in any form, asbestos is a carcinogen classified as level 1 by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Although it does not pose a risk as long as it is not damaged, if it degrades it can be harmful to health. Its fibres are associated with diseases such as lung cancer and asbestosis, which is an irritation of the lung tissue that can cause respiratory failure. Experts warn that these particles can be released by the ageing of the material – it has a useful life of between 30 and 40 years – or by action on it. The impact of the rubble would be this second case.

A simple glance from one of the roofs overlooking the interior of the block allows us to see this accumulation of rubble on the asbestos roof. Also the different impacts and holes that they have caused. In some cases, even the workers themselves have directly drilled holes in some parts to facilitate the entry of light into the area where they work. "They are putting themselves at risk," laments Paolo.

He is one of the residents who has reported the events to the Generalitat. As he explained The Newspaper and the ARA has been able to prove it, one of the complaints is already in the hands of a Labour inspector, and another has been referred by the Catalan Waste Agency (ARC) to the Department of Labour, Health and Barcelona City Council so that they can carry out the actions they consider necessary. In the case of the council, an inspection was sent from the district which verified that the works complied with the licence that was held. But the management of the asbestos depends on the Generalitat.

Removal of the cover

At the end of last week, the residents of this block in the Eixample received a communication regarding the removal of the asbestos roof. They were told that the first part of the removal of the roof would take place on February 28. After the residents requested a meeting with the company that was to remove the material, the work has been postponed for a few days and will be carried out at the end of this week.

In the notice, the company specialising in asbestos removal asked residents to keep "doors and windows closed" while the work was being carried out in the flats closest to the roof, and also that residents "avoid hanging clothes in the interior courtyards". The company also emphasises that the work has a work plan approved by the Labour Authority.

The construction company Certis –which is part of the UTE in charge of the rehabilitation of the building– emphasises that the removal of the asbestos roof has a work plan approved by the Labour Department of the Generalitat on 17 October, and that "all the work to remove the roof" will be carried out. Regarding the fact that debris has fallen on the roof during these weeks, the construction company admits that "some pieces of debris from the work may have fallen", but points out that "it may have been accidental".

But the residents argue that even if the removal of the asbestos roof is done according to the law, the damage has already been done, because the asbestos particles released with the rubble can already permeate their doors, windows and ventilation systems. "We have been able to breathe perfectly for weeks," they complain. Therefore, they demand that in addition to the removal of the roof, a cleaning plan for their buildings be carried out by the construction companies.