Discovery of Airborne Asbestos in Office Building Forces State Workers to Move

The discovery of airborne asbestos fibers has prompted authorities to relocate the offices of about 100 state employees from a mid-Wilshire high-rise that was damaged in a fire earlier this month.

Officials will monitor asbestos levels starting Monday to determine if any other state offices have to move from the 19-story CNA Building at 600 S. Commonwealth Ave. The Los Angeles offices of Gov. George Deukmejian are located on the building’s 12th floor.

The asbestos forced three state departments--Savings and Loan, Banking and Corporations--to move to the downtown California Department of Transportation building and to other office space on Wilshire Boulevard earlier this week. The three departments had been located on the 14th and 15th and 19th floors; the fire erupted March 2 on the 15th floor.

Initial readings indicated that the asbestos on some other floors, while “elevated,” was not of a high enough level to threaten human health, said Paul Savona, chief of the state’s Office of Real Estate and Design Services.

“Preliminary indications are that other departments will not (have to move), but we want to be sure,” Savona said Friday. Special attention was given to the governor’s office when asbestos was first detected but “no significant levels” were found there, Savona said.

The state hired a consultant to survey levels of asbestos, which was discovered in the floor insulation, Savona said.

A sophisticated monitoring system will be in place Monday and more accurate readings should be available as early as Tuesday, he said.

The fire, which broke out in a computer workroom at 3:33 a.m. on March 2, was confined to a 20-by-40-foot office on the 15th floor.