Much Ado About Asbestos

Community Comments

By Sukhjit Purewal
Photography by Justin Bailie

It’s not good for business to have your community portrayed as a hotbed of cancer-causing asbestos. 
     Such has been the public-relations dilemma facing the residents and businesses of El Dorado Hills ever since scientists first came to town more than a decade ago to test air and soil samples and declared the area rich with serpentine rock, a naturally occurring form of asbestos. Campus sports fields promptly were covered with fresh layers of dirt to keep the rock at bay.

No Discouraging Words
Despite the asbestos taint, El Dorado Hills has been one of the hottest residential destinations for those who can afford it. It was one of the few communities in the greater Sacramento area that continued to post escalating home prices at the close of 2006, according to a report by the California Association of Realtors. Realtors say the subject of asbestos comes and goes, varying with the news cycle. And some say the threat is exaggerated.
     “Asbestos isn’t like a huge cloud (hanging over) everything,” says ReMax real estate agent Anna Boyd of El Dorado Hills. The EPA concurs.
     “As long as it stays in the ground, it isn’t going to hurt anybody,” says Gerald Hiatt, an EPA toxicologist. “Once these small, inhalable particles get into the air, that’s when it is dangerous.”
     But in a community with so much new construction occurring as it is in El Dorado Hills, dust particles are a huge concern.
     It’s a credit not just to the beauty of the area but also the county’s efforts to get ahead of the issue that the real estate market did not further careen, according to Michael Lyon, chief executive officer of Lyon Real Estate. He blames the asbestos scare for about 4 percent of homes falling out of escrow.
     “The county originally dealt with this issue on a macro level,” Lyon says. “They did not see how small earthworks — the best example was swimming pools — could be problematic.”
     Now, nothing is overlooked, if county officials have anything to say about it, says Laura Gill, chief administrative officer for El Dorado County.

A Ban on Dust Ups
Most recently, the county settled a case concerning asbestos dust for $350,000 with developer West Valley LLC of El Dorado Hills and DeSilva Gates Construction of Dublin. The pair had allegedly mined in areas designated as known or likely to contain naturally occurring asbestos.
     The county has adopted several further measures to mitigate residents’ potential exposure, including a public disclosure form informing homebuyers about the serpentine rock and its known locations. Developers and homeowners alike have to abide by stringent restrictions on dust. Homeowners are forbidden to allow dust to fly onto their neighbors’ properties, Gill says. Repeat offenders are subject to fines.
     “We don’t like dust, period,” Gill says.

View our map of asbestos locations in El Dorado Hills

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