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The other disaster at the power plant

On Oct. 1, 2002, an explosion started what became a nine-alarm fire at the L Street power plant in South Boston. By the time it was over, firefighters were doused with toxic lubricating oil so thick some had to take off their respirators to breathe.

That was just the start of their troubles. According to one report in 2019:

Of the 200 firefighters who answered the call that day, 50 have cancer, cardiac disease or lung disease. Sixteen of them have died from cancer; slow and agonizing deaths Commissioner Finn links to that day.

At the time, the plant, owned by Sithe Energies Inc. and Exelon, had two large generators and a smaller unit. The operators never tried to rebuild the generator where the explosion happened and eventually shut the other two units. Three workers were injured yesterday in trying to demolish most of the plant, to make way for a new complex of residences, offices and a hotel.

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Comments

This was my concern when I read about what happened yesterday. These places are usually filled with asbestos. I hope all EMS wore respirators (but I didn't see any in the footage).

We all love to complain about Fire Dept salaries.. but remember, many of these guys end up with medical conditions from fighting fires. Not too sure any amount of money could help ease the pain of lung cancer or something else. Other than asbestos removers, I cant think of such a job that would pretty much ensure you get cancer...

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You can guarantee that an old power plant like that full of pipes also contains a fair amount of asbestos, among other toxic pollutants. But not to worry because they have fans blowing the air out of the building onto the East 1st Street sidewalk. Hopefully the air is filtered prior to expulsion but I'm not sure.

Also, and I hate to be pedantic here, but according to Google maps, it's on Summer St, not L.

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Are heroes and anyone who complains about them or their salaries doesn’t have a fully developed prefrontal cortex.

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While asbestos is definitely bad, the larger issues is all of the small fires that contain toxic fumes from ordinary household plastics. They are exposed almost daily and the fire stations are so old that they don't have proper decontamination facilities for their gear.

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people for years. Probably thousands have been made sick over the years from this site.
Now yuppies want to eat, drink and be merry there. It will never be totally cleaned if asbestos, oil, lead paint and PCB’s.

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