Final Report for Environmental Finance Center
Sustainable Materials Management mini-grant
“Quantifying the Benefits of Rural Deconstruction”
Paul Crovella and Susan Anagnost
Abstract: A study was performed to quantify lead dust dispersion during deconstruction and compare the
level of dispersion during deconstruction to the level during demolition. The result was used to model the
potential impacts on the soil of using deconstruction in place of demolition around six rural structures.
Overview: The impact of lead contamination in urban soils has long been recognized and managed by
municipalities working to reduce lead risk to inhabitants, particularly children. The EPA has limits for
maximum soil lead levels in bare soil play areas (400 ppm), and non-play areas (1200 ppm). In rural
environments, lead contamination in soils has not been studied or managed with the same attention. The
purpose of this grant is to develop and present rural organizations with a clear understanding of lead
levels in soils around rural structures, and to quantify one way of controlling soil contamination during
building removal by using deconstruction. The results of the study will be presented to agencies that can
provide agricultural land owners with guidance on how to limit the contamination of their property during
building removal.
Introduction: The State University College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF) has been
authorized to expand their campus in order to build a new Academic Research Building. The
construction of this building required that the college purchase and remove 11 homes from a city block in
Syracuse. In alignment with the mission of the college, rather than using demolition for these buildings, a
decision was made to “deconstruct” these buildings and recover building materials for reuse. The
approach selected for this work is known as “hybrid deconstruction”. Hybrid deconstruction entails the
building being cut into 3m by 5m panel sections, and these sections being lowered to the ground for
disassembly by hand. The disassembly allows the removed materials to be diverted from a landfill.
However another potential benefit of this approach is the greatly reduced amount of energy input to
remove the materials, and a corresponding reduction in the dispersal of dust during the process. With
houses built before 1984, the presence of lead in the dust represents a significant threat to humans through
contact as well as ingestion of foods grown in the soils. While other researchers have studied rate of lead
dispersion during demolition, no data exists for rates of lead dust dispersion during deconstruction.
Method: The study data collection began by sampling the soil lead levels across the city block where the
11 homes were located. A Niton Xli 700 X-ray Fluorescence Environmental Analyzer (XRF) was used to
measure soil lead levels. Previously, comparisons of soil lead measurements using the XRF and a MSICP were made, and values from the XRF were found to correlate well with laboratory ICP
measurements. Sample times were selected to maintain an average error of less than 10% in the ppm
lead reading. Soil samples were taken on an approximately 2m x 2m grid during July and August of
2012. Areas with hard surfacing (paved) were excluded, and as a result a total of 290 measurements were
taken. At the conclusion of the baseline soil lead level measurements, a map was created of the site, using
the values of measurements sites to interpolate soil lead levels across the entire site (Fig. 1).
The next step in the process was to measure the soil lead level deposition rate during the deconstruction
process. The procedure that was followed is based on the modified APHA 502 method (Mucha et al.
2009). The samples are acquired by placing water containers at respiratory height at the four corners of
the site. The water samples collected at the end of the day are then processed using EPA method
SW3050B and the amount of lead in ug is determined using the MS-ICP. At the time of this writing
(November 30, 2012), samples have been taken during the deconstruction of 8 of the 11 houses, however
only one of the samples from the houses has been analyzed. The weight of the lead was divided by the
water surface area, and the time left exposed, and the result is a deposition rate in ug/sq m/hr.
Next, the soil lead levels around the city block where deconstruction occurred were measured after the
buildings were removed. At the time of this writing, only 23 samples were able to be taken due to the
deconstruction not being complete.
Using the measured values from the 23 samples, a map was developed for the post deconstruction site
profile based on a uniform increase measured during soil testing (Fig. 2).
Using the increased deposition rate for deconstruction, a map was produced to simulate the effects of
demolition. The increase due to deconstruction was multiplied by the deposition rate to predict a
potential increase due to demolition (Fig. 3).
During the months of August and September of 2012, a survey was performed of structures in six rural
locations to profile the soil lead levels. These levels were measured in a grid around the structures out to a
distance of 5 m from the structure perimeter. The soil lead levels were quantified by percent exceeding
the 400 and 1200 ppm thresholds, and then the predicted effects of using deconstruction and demolition
were modeled using the values obtained from the work in Syracuse (Table 1).
Data:
Baseline
% above
400
% above
1200
Sample
points
Error
Average
year built
Average
sq ft
Syracuse
(city)
31
Fabius
Augusta
CamillusMarcellus
73
Liverpool
Skaneateles
3
South
Onondaga
0
26
8
72
8
8
0
0
24
0
9
290
85
87
67
81
51
75
8%
1926
9%
1833
21%
30%
6%
19%
8%
3152
Table 1: Soil lead levels in ppm for 11 urban homes in Syracuse and 6 rural homes in Onondaga and
Madison County
Results:
The average deposition rate for the first house using deconstruction was 176 ug/sg m/hr. Published
values for deposition rates from demolition in Chicago (Mucha et al. 2009) are 306 ug/sq m/hr. The
comparative deposition rate for deconstruction is 58% of the demolition rate.
Based on the 23 soil samples taken, the average soil lead levels have increased from 154 ppm to 208 ppm
during the deconstruction process.
Using the average deconstruction increase, and applying it uniformly across the site, a projecting the
demolition increase based on the deposition rate ratio (Fig. 4) was developed. These pie charts show the
before and after lead level percentages on the site.
0-100
0-100
0-100
101-150
101-150
151-200
151-200
201-400
201-400
401-1199
1200+
Baseline Soil Lead
401-1199
101-150
151-200
201-400
1200+
4011199
After Deconstruction
Projected after Demolition
Figure 4 - Distribution of Soil Lead Levels (ppm) before and after Deconstruction and projected
Demolition
Conclusions: The data collected during hybrid deconstruction has allowed the effects of deconstruction
and demolition in a rural environment to be predicted. The increase levels of soil lead due to each
practice will have to be evaluated by decision makers concerned with both soil and human health. The
reduction in soil contamination by 44% percent due to deconstruction provides a clear metric for making
such a decision.
The six rural sites tested showed a much wider range of soil lead levels than the area around the 11 urban
homes. Amount of soil lead around rural structures depends heavily on the specific building and site
characteristics. These are best evaluated by site-specific testing.
Fig. 1. Map of soil lead content pre-deconstruction at the site of the SUNY ARB. Lead levels (ppm) are
based on soil lead levels collected at each processing cell (292 measurements) and analyzed with XRF.
For mapping values were extrapolated using the Inverse-Distance weighted (IDW) tool.
Fig. 2. Map of soil lead content post-deconstruction at the site of the SUNY ARB. Lead levels (ppm) are
based on soil lead levels collected at each processing cell (23) and analyzed with XRF. For mapping
values were extrapolated using the Inverse-Distance weighted (IDW) tool. Post-deconstruction sampling
is still in progress.
Fig. 3. Map of simulated soil lead content post-demolition at the site of the SUNY ARB. Lead levels
(ppm) are based on soil lead deposition rate times soil lead levels following deconstruction. Following
collection of lead deposition samples were measured with MS-ICP. For mapping values were
extrapolated using the Inverse-Distance weighted (IDW) tool. Data collection is continuing as homes are
deconstructed.