![[+]](/pics/but_close.gif)
Our Services
Counter-investigation in Kosovo
Being an expert laboratory, Search Laboratories and Research, commissioned by the Ministry of Defence as a counter-investigation laboratory, carried out an in-depth investigation into an alleged contamination with blue asbestos at the camp of the engineering aid battalion in Prizren.
In the summer of 1999, large quantities of blue asbestos were supposedly found in this camp. In response to this signal the Ministry of Defence immediately took the necessary measures to protect the Dutch soldiers’ health. Search Laboratories and Research was asked to carry out, at the site, a preliminary investigation into the effect of the measures which had been taken. The results of various analyses raised the suspicion that there was no trace of blue asbestos in Prizren and the other encampments: the other laboratory would have failed at doing its job. The Ministry of Defence then assigned Search Engineering and Consultancy with a follow-up commission to carry out an investigation on the spot to find out if blue asbestos could have been involved and if the measures taken had been necessary.
For this purpose DTA-investigator (expert supervisor asbestos demolition) E. Baars and project manager H.J. Wiesenekker travelled to Kosovo to carry out the approved Strategic Plan. The plan was aimed at tracing the blue asbestos, using both an effect-oriented and a source-oriented strategy. This included collecting dust samples from covered sites, sampling the top layer of the soil in places where high concentrations of blue asbestos supposedly had been found in the air, and flying part of the filling-up soil from the camp to the Netherlands in order to analyse it. Finally the surroundings of the camp in Prizren were searched thoroughly, looking for possible (geological) sources of blue asbestos.
All analyses were carried out by Search Laboratories and Research with STERLAB (ISO-17025) accreditation – more specifically by using a scanning electron microscope. No blue asbestos was found.
In the mean time, the investigation by Search has resulted in a criminal investigation of the asbestos laboratory which sounded the alarm in 1999 and advised to take extensive, costly measures.Search established one thing beyond all doubt: the so-called risks caused by blue asbestos contamination in the camp were absolutely fictitious…
In the summer of 1999, large quantities of blue asbestos were supposedly found in this camp. In response to this signal the Ministry of Defence immediately took the necessary measures to protect the Dutch soldiers’ health. Search Laboratories and Research was asked to carry out, at the site, a preliminary investigation into the effect of the measures which had been taken. The results of various analyses raised the suspicion that there was no trace of blue asbestos in Prizren and the other encampments: the other laboratory would have failed at doing its job. The Ministry of Defence then assigned Search Engineering and Consultancy with a follow-up commission to carry out an investigation on the spot to find out if blue asbestos could have been involved and if the measures taken had been necessary.
For this purpose DTA-investigator (expert supervisor asbestos demolition) E. Baars and project manager H.J. Wiesenekker travelled to Kosovo to carry out the approved Strategic Plan. The plan was aimed at tracing the blue asbestos, using both an effect-oriented and a source-oriented strategy. This included collecting dust samples from covered sites, sampling the top layer of the soil in places where high concentrations of blue asbestos supposedly had been found in the air, and flying part of the filling-up soil from the camp to the Netherlands in order to analyse it. Finally the surroundings of the camp in Prizren were searched thoroughly, looking for possible (geological) sources of blue asbestos.
All analyses were carried out by Search Laboratories and Research with STERLAB (ISO-17025) accreditation – more specifically by using a scanning electron microscope. No blue asbestos was found.
In the mean time, the investigation by Search has resulted in a criminal investigation of the asbestos laboratory which sounded the alarm in 1999 and advised to take extensive, costly measures.Search established one thing beyond all doubt: the so-called risks caused by blue asbestos contamination in the camp were absolutely fictitious…
Print
Send a friend