The Schnucks Supermarket on Sangamon Avenue in Springfield, Illinois closed its doors to the public and employees abruptly within hours after asbestos was discovered in the store. The move was swift and decisive and intended to protect the health of Schnuck’s employees and customers but has shocked many in the local area.
A representative for Schnucks said after the closing that the supermarket in the Sangamon Center North shopping center will remain closed indefinitely until the company decides what to do about the asbestos. The cancer-causing material was found in the adhesive holding down floor tiles that workers had been hired to remove and replace as part of a major renovation project set to be completed within two months. Work abruptly stopped after test results came back positive for asbestos.
Asbestos was a commonly used additive to floor tiles, ceiling tiles, and other building materials before the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned its use in the United States in the 1980s. Before then, the naturally occurring mineral was added to thousands of building and household products in order to add heat/fire resistance and structural strength.
The dangers of asbestos have long been known to companies who manufactured products containing the materials. In fact, company documents dating back to the 1940s and 1950s reveal early knowledge that asbestos causes mesothelioma, cancer and serious lung illnesses. However, these companies continued to manufacture such products until they were ordered to stop by the United States government.
Asbestos has been confirmed as a causative agent for diseases such as mesothelioma (a deadly type of cancer that affects the lining of your lungs, abdomen or heart), lung cancer, and asbestosis (scarring of the lungs which results in the inability to draw in enough oxygen.)
Jim Stone, the Sangamon County Public Health Director, released an urgent public safety update instructing people not to consume foodstuffs that were purchased from the 1911 E. Sangamon Avenue location. Asbestos fibers can become airborne and ingestion of those fibers is one of the primary methods of developing mesothelioma.
While no tests have been conducted as yet to see if any of the products in the supermarket were contaminated, Stone suggests that because the public health threat is so large that customers put safety first and discard anything they may have bought there.
“We are working cooperatively with the Illinois Department of Public Health, and we have also been in contact with Schnucks’ corporate office, which has been very cooperative and forthcoming,” Stone said. Schnucks has been handling the potential disaster with the best interests of customers in mind and acted swiftly to protect the public health by closing the store within minutes of discovering the potentially lethal carcinogen.
Though contractors hired by Schnucks discovered the problem, the company inherited the issue from the building’s former resident. The Sangamon Center store took over the retail space that formerly housed a Bergner’s department. The department store vacated the premises in 1994 but the floor tiles and their toxic glue were left behind.
The other Shnucks Springfield location (2801 Chatham Road – the Montvale Plaza store) has been given a clean bill of health and will remain open for the duration of its renovation. Schnucks’ representatives are urging customers to visit the Chatham Road location until re-opening of the other location.
This entry was posted on Monday, August 1st, 2011 at 1:45 pm and is filed under Asbestos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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