State Report Finds Massive Asbestos Peril

A state task force on the dangers of asbestos in public buildings has concluded that the cancer-causing material poses significant problems in most government facilities in California and that the cost of reducing exposure to workers and the public may run as high as $660 million, according to a report obtained by The Times.

The alarming findings are based on inspections of 250 government buildings scattered across the state, including hospitals, police and fire stations, airports, libraries and courthouses.

Inspectors found asbestos-containing material in more than 80% of city and county buildings they sampled. In 60% of the structures, the asbestos was in a form that could crumble easily, sending its lung-damaging fibers into the air.

In 42% of the buildings, the potential health risk was severe enough that the task force recommended that the asbestos be removed or treated within a year--and in some cases within six months. The task force also found less frequent but still significant problems in privately owned offices leased by the state.

Government agencies have been notified about the asbestos problems in each of the buildings included in the sample, according to the report. And some have taken emergency steps to prevent asbestos exposure.

However, the purpose of the study--ordered by the Legislature in 1986--was to estimate the extent of the asbestos problem in about 40,000 government buildings and offices throughout the state and to determine the best way to go about the slow, expensive process of removing or repairing the material.

As a result of its findings, the task force “urges all cities and counties to begin an inspection program as soon as possible.”

Assemblyman Burt Margolin (D-Los Angeles), author of the 1986 legislation, is angry that the Administration of Gov. George Deukmejian has taken so long to complete the study, which is almost two years overdue and still has not been released officially. The study was conducted by a private consultant under contract to the state Department of Health Services.

“I’m outraged at the delay in this report and angered by the Administration’s resistance to letting this information be made public and allow a cleanup to proceed in a rational fashion,” Margolin said Monday.

The task force report makes sweeping recommendations for rating the health risk posed by asbestos in different situations and advises government officials on how to identify problems that require emergency removal.

Margolin said that he was surprised by the extent of the problem identified in the study. “I’m even more surprised by the state’s slowness to act.”

The completed asbestos report is still awaiting approval by the governor’s office before it can be officially released, said Tom Beermann, Deukmejian’s deputy press secretary, who said he could not comment on the delay in completing the study. The governor’s office received the lengthy report only on Friday, he said.

Earlier this year, the Environmental Protection Agency ordered a near total ban on the manufacture or import of asbestos-containing products by 1996. Among the items affected by the ban are automobile brakes, concrete pipes and roofing material.

Asbestos is one of a relatively small number of substances proved to cause cancer, not just in animals, but in humans. It can also cause chronic, debilitating lung disease among those exposed to its microscopic fibers.

Ban Would Not Be Total

Even an outright ban would not eliminate asbestos exposure because so much of the material has been used over the years for a variety of purposes.

Because of its resistance to heat and fire, asbestos was used in materials for wrapping pipes and boilers and in ceiling and floor tiles. Removing material from buildings can itself be a source of asbestos exposure if the cleanup is not done carefully.

The state task force found the most frequent asbestos problems in buildings constructed before 1976.

The group’s report estimates that it will cost $31 million to conduct a complete building-by-building survey of city, county and state-leased facilities. Surveys of state-owned facilities--including state office buildings and university campuses--have already been conducted.

The task force recommended that government agencies begin by attacking the problem where the risk of exposure of workers and the public is highest. The group recommended that priority be given to police offices and medical facilities, which are used around the clock and where inspections turned up especially high levels of crumbling or damaged asbestos material.

Could Be Left in Place

In many cases, asbestos-containing material could be safely left in place if regularly inspected, maintained and labeled, the task force concluded. The group recommended establishing a statewide register of government buildings to keep track of cleanup and maintenance efforts.

Although the task force report obtained by The Times does not include the results of inspections of each building in the statewide sample, those findings were released to individual government agencies last year.

In Los Angeles County, for example, 20 of 56 government buildings in the survey were found to require immediate asbestos removal. Among the county facilities that required emergency action were Rancho Los Amigos Medical Center in Downey, the Lynwood sheriff’s substation, and the Los Cerritos Municipal Court building in Bellflower. After a story on the contamination problems appeared in The Times, the county supervisors ordered emergency action to eliminate any risk to workers or the public in those facilities.