The state Environment Department may take Advantage Asphalt to court to get the Santa Fe-based paving firm to pay $817,000 in fines related to the mishandling of asbestos waste.

The company was cited in 2010 for violating rules regarding the handling of the hazardous material while working on a street-improvement product for the city of Bloomfield in 2009.

According to that citation, the firm improperly disposed of asbestos at a landfill, and then in a Dumpster, even after being notified that the waste required special handling.

The firm originally appealed the Environment Department's compliance order and said the city of Bloomfield didn't reveal the existence of the asbestos before the job began. A hearing was set in the case but was canceled after Advantage Asphalt indicated a desire to reach a settlement, according to Environment Department spokesman Jim Winchester.

Sport and Fitness Centre has been closed indefinitely and will need a completely new roof after results of an air quality examination revealed levels of asbestos.
Howzat, which has been closed since the building was evacuated last Thursday, said yesterday it would remain shut until at least January 2012.

The gym’s thousands of patrons have been told their memberships will be ‘‘put on hold’’ and Howzat plans to postpone all amateur sporting competitions and refund money paid by teams to use the building’s indoor facilities.

As a precaution, an assessment of several other businesses in the Cooks Hill Commercial Centre will begin today.

A blaze erupted at a vacant chemical plant just before sunrise Sunday in one of the country's poorest cities, causing the building to partially collapse and forcing firefighters to evacuate nearby homes.

The fire at Concord Chemical Inc. in Camden, across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, comes more than a week after fires at an abandoned tire factory and a downtown warehouse.

Hazmat crews were checking to see if any chemicals were left in the former plant, which was vacated two years ago, Philadelphia's WPVI-TV reported.

The plant made detergents and cleaning products and underwent a nine-month, $1 million cleanup of asbestos and potentially explosive hazardous materials that the Environmental Protection Agency completed in May, the Courier-Post reported.

About 70 primary school children have been exposed to asbestos when a science lesson explosion lifted ceiling tiles in a Berkshire school hall.

Pupils were evacuated from the hall at St Mary's in Kintbery, Hungerford, when a chemical test involving a hydrogen balloon caused a "sonic reaction".

Dust that fell from the ceiling tested positive for a small level of asbestos.

Health and safety officers kept the children's uniforms for testing and the pupils were sent home in their PE kits.

The hall has been sealed off and all parents have been informed.

A West Berkshire Council spokesman said: "I can confirm that during a science lesson at the school today, a planned chemical reaction involving a hydrogen balloon, resulted in a sonic reaction that lifted ceiling tiles in the hall releasing dust.

A block of flats in Worthing is being evacuated after a builder uncovered asbestos.
The building in Dolphin Lodge, Grand Avenue, Worthing, has been cordoned off for almost three hours while specialist waste management teams try to make it safe.
West Sussex Fire and Rescue were called at 9.38am after a builder found the highly toxic chemical in the building.
A spokesman for the fire service said: "A member of the public has a builder in to do some work.
"The builder was taking down a door when he found asbestos.
"This is a highly toxic chemical that can kill people over time.
"It was our job to get everyone out as quickly as possible.
"We sent five appliances and four officers.
"We have now handed the job over to Viridor, a waste management company."