” The underground steam pipes in Manhattan, that area unit a part of the biggest steam network within the country, originate to 1932. Asbestos was used extensively within the network’s construction. there's over a hundred miles of steam piping at a lower place NYC, delivering cooling and heating to over a pair of,000 buildings. A naturally-occurring mineral, amphibole is in demand for its heat resistance and talent to strengthen virtually something with that it's mixed. once left undisturbed within the underground network, it had been no serious threat. The eruption, though, close to the boulevard and twenty first Street intersection, sent the nephrotoxic fibers mobile, that vulnerable anyone near .