Air quality issues arise in Surfside after condo collapse

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SURFSIDE, Florida – It has been more than two weeks since the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominiums in Surfside, and now questions about the safety of search teams and residents have arisen due to the recent demolition of the standing structure and all trash.

Air samples have shown that the air is dangerous, especially above and around the rubble pile.

Video taken near the site of the collapse shows particles of dust and debris flying through the air as teams scramble to retrieve the bodies.

Local 10 News obtained a photo of two air samples. The top is a random air sample taken at the University of Miami, showing particles in the air.

The bottom is an air sample taken from the rubble pile. The two are radically different.

“We’ll probably never know how much we’ve been exposed to over there,” said Billy McAllister, president of Local 1403.

Crews work 12-hour shifts, 24 hours a day. So far, around 13 million pounds of rubble have been removed.

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Materials released into the air can be inhaled, ingested and absorbed through the skin, which can lead to cancer and respiratory disease.

So while the search teams work to find the missing, others work to keep them safe.

“Dr. Perzant is leading the World Trade Center Respiratory Health Initiative, and we were in communication with him very early on, and asking for advice and improvements that he suggested we could implement here locally,” said McAllister.

P100 masks are mandatory, as well as gloves and protective covers.

“During the first few hours, not everyone had P100s, which are the ones with the purple cartridges,” McAllister said. “We worked with Miami-Dade Fire and other community partners to make sure everyone working above the collapse wore a P100, which is the appropriate respiratory protection.”

“There are air monitoring stations there, which collect data continuously, and then there are other things which are collected intermittently,” he added.

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The International Association of Fire Fighters is working with the University of Miami and UM has donated labs, space and equipment.

The association will test firefighters for toxins that could enter their protective equipment.

After September 11, more than 1,000 firefighters developed cancer, of which 44 died. Another 10,600 were diagnosed with respiratory disease.

The biggest fear …

“It’s the unknown. We don’t know what we don’t know, ”McAllister said. “It’s our job. We have to be there.

As far as we currently know, no air quality testing is done off-site, but several residents and community leaders have suggested that the Environmental Protection Agency come in and monitor the air. At this point, this has not happened.

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