‘Gorilla Snot’ will help control Asarco dust

The final Asarco demolition plan released days before the stacks fall reveals some details designed to help control dust that will be kicked up when the chimneys fall.

The fall zones shown in aerial video shot by KVIA Chief Engineer Elias Ventanilla extend from the site’s south side towards I-10.

Around the fall zones, workers created giant berms on each side of the chimneys. The berms are designed to deflect debris and dust.

In the fall zone, workers installed a fabric to cover the Asarco soil, and on top of that, they imported tons of new dirt. That clean soil was sealed with a chemical designed to bind the dirt together in order to minimize the displacement as the chimneys slam into the ground. This material is commercially called “Gorilla Snot,” the report said.

That binder will create a layer that will make it harder for the dust to come up, and the dust that will be dispersed first will be clean soil, according to the demolition plan.

Brandenburg Industrial Service Company, the contractor hired to oversee the demolition, will use 26 water cannons around the fall zones to create a curtain of mist.

The machines will begin working 15 to 20 minutes before the explosives are set.

The mist will help prevent the dust from dispersing and will force it down. The misting machines will remain working about 15 minutes after the chimneys have come down, the report states.

ABC-7 will provide special coverage of the historic demolition of the two Asarco chimneys Saturday, April 13, beginning at 5 a.m.