Hello, I don't know if "asbestos" was in all the mill buildings in Greater Lowell, but I do know they were in the "locomotive repair shops" at Iron Horse Park. * That site in Billerica was half of a "Federal Superfund Site" made so in the 1990's, I believe (and still not 100% fixed). The other half was the former "Billerica Dump." Nowadays residents in Greater Lowell are concerned about the "Asphalt-producing companies" in the area. One has existed for a long time and someone wants to build another one not too far from it. Residents have been concerned about what comes out of sites for a long time. But, a couple years ago the smoke was tested and found not to be - hazardous to our health. But, why do the residents find "dust" all over our vehicles every day? I just looked up the history of asphalt and found this site. http://www.asphalt-guide.com/asphalt-history.html The use of asphalt as a road-building material increased exponentially during the 1800s. One of the builders, Thomas Telford, built more than 900 miles of roads in Scotland, perfecting the method of building roads with broken stones. Similarly, John Loudon McAdam, used broken stone joined to form a hard surface to build a Scottish turnpike. The construction method was later improved, to reduce dust and maintenance, as builders used hot tar to bond the broken stones together, producing "tarmacadam" pavements. In 1870, a Belgian chemist named Edmund J. DeSmedt made the first true asphalt pavement in the U.S. in Newark, N.J. The first asphalt plant was opened by The Cummer Company in the 1800s, while the first modern asphalt production facility was opened by the Warren Brothers in East Cambridge, MA, in 1901. The first asphalt production patent, meanwhile, was filed by Nathan B. Abbott of Brooklyn, N.Y. in 1871. NOTE that the WARREN brothers opened an "asphalt plant" in East Cambridge ! Did anyone work there or have a relative who did? Betty (near Lowell, MA)