An Underground Layer of Friable Asbestos in a Small Municipality in Colombia: Another Asbestos Contaminated Town?

Introduction: Sibate is a small town (38,000 inhabitants) nearby Colombia’s capital, Bogota. A water reservoir, el Muna, is located south-west of the town. Residents from Sibate report that during the 1970s and 1980s, parcels were filled with asbestos containing materials (ACM), to push out the heavily polluted waters of the reservoir from the urban area and create new land for urban development.Aims: The aims of this study are to confirm the existence of the landfills, and determine the presence of ACM in the soils of the town.Methods: Satellite images and topographic maps from different years were combined within a geographic information system to identify changes in height that could determine areas where lands were possibly filled. In some of these areas, soil samples were collected and analyzed by PLM following ASTM D7521-16 method and EPA’ soil screening guidelines.Results: Ten potential landfill zones were identified, with a total area of approximately 30,000 m2. In three of t...