LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Before the implosion of the Tropicana can take place, a lot of asbestos will need to be removed from the former resort's complex.
According to a 1,500-page report commissioned by Clark County officials, the series of buildings that make up the now-closed casino resort have quite a bit of the stuff.
Bally's Corporation, owner of the Tropicana, plans to implode the complex in October to make way for construction of a $1.5 billion baseball ballpark for the Oakland A's.
The A's plan to move to Las Vegas to play in the stadium beginning in 2028. Before any of that can happen, though, asbestos abatement will need to take place.
"They'll go through and test every bit of material in those buildings," said Jim Butler, owner of Apex Environmental Consultants.
Butler's firm, based in Las Vegas, doesn't have the contract for the job, but he's keeping an eye on the Tropicana project because of its high-profile nature.
"It's a big job," he said. "They'll go through systematically from top to bottom."
Asbestos is a flame-resistant material that used to be very popular in construction, but tiny fibers can sometimes break off of it and get into our lungs, which can cause serious health issues, sometimes even cancer.
Decades ago, federal regulators began to crack down on asbestos use, but many older buildings still have the materials.
The county-commissioned report, completed by RiskNomics, a Henderson-based environmental firm, contains information from inspections that took place in November and December.
According to the report, the findings weren't as thorough as they could have been if the inspections had taken place after the resort closed. The Tropicana closed its doors for good April 2.
"Older buildings — and the Tropicana was built in the 1950s — often contained asbestos," said Walter Pacheco, an editor and content strategist with Asbestos.com, an advocacy firm, sponsored by a series of law firms, that works to help educate the public about asbestos and mesothelioma.
There are strict rules regarding asbestos and how it needs to be removed. Clark County oversees this process, though it uses standards implemented by the Environmental Protection Agency.
It's no secret that tiny fibers from asbestos-laced materials can cause health problems, but Pacheco said if all the proper rules are followed, there shouldn't be any issues at the corner of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard.
"If protocols are met, yes, everybody should be fine," Pacheco said. "But it is valid to say that no level of asbestos exposure is ever safe."
In a statement sent to Channel 13 on Tuesday, a Bally's representative said the demolition of the Tropicana "will be conducted in compliance with all state and local requirements, with particular attention to the health and safety of the surrounding neighborhood and the community as a whole."
Butler didn't go over the entire 1,500-page report, but he went over a sizeable chunk of it.
He said it's likely that not all asbestos inside the Tropicana will be removed before the implosion, but that the most dangerous "friable" asbestos will be.
The EPA considers friable materials to be anything that contains more than one percent asbestos by weight or area.
"The EPA could always change that," Butler said. "They could come back and say that they think certain materials will become friable following an implosion."
Channel 13 reached out to the EPA in an attempt to secure an interview, but the agency did not make anyone available in time for publication of this story.
