City Fails to Act on Asbestos Peril at Sewage Plant

Workers at the Point Loma Sewage Treatment Plant have been continually exposed to asbestos particles for more than a year, despite knowledge by city officials of an asbestos hazard at the plant, according to memos obtained by The Times.

Asbestos is a known cancer-causing agent.

Workers said Wednesday that they worked without protective clothing in clouds of asbestos dust for up to six weeks in 1987 when a private contractor hired by the city to remodel the aging facility--the city’s only sewage processing plant--unknowingly exposed asbestos in the ceiling. City officials eventually halted the project.

And, more than six months after the city’s asbestos expert warned other officials of a continuing asbestos hazard at the plant, the city has yet to initiate any action. In a memo dated Dec. 30, 1988, and sent to Larry King, Buildings Division deputy director, Alan J. Johanns noted that the city’s risk management office had agreed on an “action to be taken” on July 8 for removal of all asbestos materials.

“A change order was written and an asbestos consultant was interviewed to write specifications for the proper and safe removal, but for some reason no action has been taken. I recommend that this material be removed by this change order or a separate contract be written as soon as possible before the barrier falls and recontaminates the room and exposes the personnel,” said Johanns’ memo.

Sealing the Cracks

The “barrier” mentioned by Johanns is plastic sheeting hanging under the ceiling in the plant’s central control station. City safety officials ordered the plastic sheet draped above the workers’ heads, secured by duct tape against the walls. Tape was also used to seal cracks in the control panels and around the myriad dials and gauges to prevent asbestos particles from escaping. The plastic is covered with dust, which contains asbestos particles that have fallen from the ceiling. The old ceiling in the room remained intact when city officials halted the remodeling.

Workers continually enter and leave the control room to monitor the giant sewage and sludge pumps that serve the city.

Several workers interviewed said they unwittingly worked in “asbestos dust storms” for up to six weeks in 1987--without respirators or protective clothing--before the city and the contractor realized that the old ceiling was coated with asbestos. The workers also told The Times that supervisors ordered them to sweep up dust particles containing asbestos and throw the dusty powder in office trash cans.

The workers, fearing retribution from management, agreed to talk to a reporter on a condition of anonymity.

“We weren’t told that it was asbestos,” one worker said. “We didn’t know it was asbestos. . . . About 20 of us here have been exposed to asbestos and taken it home in our clothing and shoes. I personally feel that it’s criminal negligence on the city’s part.”

Effects Not Known

Medical experts say that asbestosis, a form of cancer caused by asbestos fibers, occurs after prolonged exposure. It sometimes takes years before the cancerous condition develops. In this case, it is not known what effect the brief exposure will have on workers. However, some workers fear that they were exposed long before 1987.

They said that, before the plastic sheet was installed, the control room was often shaken by the giant pumps that move the sludge and sewage, dropping dust particles and fibers into the workplace.

According to the workers, about 90% of the asbestos-coated ceiling was removed before city officials discovered that it was coated with the deadly fibers. Plant workers said the construction began in November or December, 1987, and lasted four to six weeks before it was stopped.

Efforts to confirm this date with city agencies were unsuccessful, as one official after another directed a reporter to a different agency and city official. Roger Graff, an engineer with the Water Utilities Department, said the dates sound right but he is not sure.

Deputy City Atty. Rudolph Hradecky, who was brought into the fray after the fact to study any liabilities that the city may be held accountable for, said he is not sure if the workers’ exposure lasted six weeks. “I couldn’t give you a factual period of time, but it wasn’t for just one day,” Hradecky said.

Will Pslugh, vice president of Engicon Corp. in Sorrento Valley, the construction company hired to remodel the plant, declined comment and referred all questions to city officials. However, a female employee at the company who would not give her name confirmed that the project was halted when asbestos was found in the ceiling.

Graff said Engicon is not licensed to handle asbestos and is still negotiating with the city over a change order. In order for Engicon to continue with the project, the company will have to subcontract the asbestos removal to a qualified firm, Graff said.

Fed Up With Inaction

Workers and representatives from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Local 127, which represents some employees at the plant, said they agreed to meet with a reporter because they were fed up with the city’s inaction.

“We’ve had to work under these conditions for over a year now. The city told us that they would monitor our health by giving us physicals every year. . . . Maybe we’ve already been killed or maybe we haven’t,” one worker said. “It takes 20, 30 or 40 years before asbestos turns to cancer. I guess the city figures that by then we’ll all be dead or too old to sue them.”

According to several workers who described the conditions in the plant, there was “a lot of dust, clouds of it” hanging inside the building while Engicon employees removed the old ceiling. Workers said asbestos dust covered everything in the office areas and occasionally got in their coffee.

“When it piled up too heavy on the floor, several of us were told to get brooms and dustpans and sweep it up. Dust was constantly flying around everywhere, and we walked around in our regular work clothes,” said another worker.

After city officials discovered the asbestos, plant workers were issued protective clothing and respirators, employees said. The remodeling was halted a few days later.

Efforts by a reporter to get a response from city officials to the employees’ accusations were unsuccessful Wednesday, when no fewer than 10 officials from different agencies either failed to return calls or referred questions to other offices.

Richard Stephens, spokesman for the California Department of Industrial Relations, said his office had not received any complaints about the Point Loma facility. But Stephens said that, if it receives at least one complaint about asbestos contamination from an employee or union official, the department will send an investigator to the plant.

“If there is an imminent hazard, the area could be put off limits, closed off until the hazard is taken care of,” Stephens said.

If state officials closed the Point Loma plant, they would shut down the city’s only waste-treatment facility.