4. Proposed Demolition Works
Please describe the building(s) to be demolished
The building to be demolished is a detached residential dormer bungalow with integrated garage.
Please state the reasons why demolition needs to take place
The property has been affected by the ingress of mine gas with excessive concentrations of carbon dioxide (up to 17%) and low oxygen that make the property dangerous to inhabit. Efforts have been made to reduce the ingress of carbon dioxide but they have not reduced concentrations to a satisfactory level and so the building needs to be demolished.
Today we took a small detour to take a look at this property because we know the area well. Years ago we knew the people who lived there, although they moved away long before this problem cropped up. It was a bungalow which has now been demolished.
The site is fenced off and what look like two large vents have been installed, presumably to allow the gas to escape. Not a common problem fortunately.
7 comments:
Would it be possible to turn the building into a green house?
Presumably people get compensation, but it must be a fairly dire episode in one's life.
Living down here, far from the Kent coalfield,one never sees this problem.
There must be a heck of a lot of cO2 doen there to reach the surface, it's heavier than oxygen isn't it?
And why not bottle the gas for burning?
"And why not bottle the gas for burning?"
Carbon dioxide isn't very inflammable.
I think my 72% in chemistry at Olevel has at last deserted me, Decnine! Thank you!
A pal of mine in the US, who is a mine engineer said "lower than 19.5 % is oxygen deficient and dangerous (per USA OSHA). Mine gas could contain numerous gases that could be a hazard, if in a coal mining area, the gas could include methane".
Venting is the norm I suppose, but there again, I wouldn't want to breathe any of the other stuff either!
Back in the seventies there was a famous 'Shelthorpe Stink' to the east of Loughborough. It was initially though to be coming from the sewage works but was eventually traced to a builders tip where plasterboard was being buried - and plasterboard degrades and generates hydrogen sulphide in the right circumstances. This was not 'known' at the time, but is now why you are not supposed to put plasterboard in skips.
A Tescos is built over the tip, but there are stainless steel vents around the edge of the car park.
Unk - it's an idea, although the the concentrations reported are so high that any enclosed space could be lethal.
Sam - and presumably there were reasons to suspect a problem such as various health effects for those living there.
decnine and Scrobs - carbon dioxide can be very dangerous. A place where I worked had two deaths where one man was asphyxiated in an inspection chamber, another chap saw him collapsed in the chamber, went down into the chamber to help but was also overcome and died. It can be very quick.
DJ - hydrogen sulphide is also very toxic although the smell is usually enough to keep people away from sources of it. Tesco must have been very confident about those vents.
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