Asbestos Removal to Cut Services at Air Base Hospital

The military hospital at Edwards Air Force Base has an extensive asbestos problem and will have to curtail its services during December and January for a $1-million project to remove the cancer-causing material, Air Force officials said Thursday.

Lt. Col. Kenneth Whitaker, the hospital’s administrator, said the asbestos found in the 60,000-square-foot building is vulnerable to crumbling and becoming airborne, which is when it is dangerous. But air sampling thus far has detected only negligible amounts of asbestos well below safety standards, he said.

The Air Force learned of the asbestos in early 1990 when a contractor had to stop work on a fire safety project after finding that asbestos insulation covered the building’s pipes, officials said. But Thursday was the first public disclosure of the problem.

A $180,000 study to investigate the problem and recommend potential solutions was recently completed, Whitaker said. A spokesman for the Environmental Protection Agency said federal buildings have not been required to undergo routine asbestos inspections.

Asbestos was commonly used in construction materials and as insulation before the mid-1970s.

Use of asbestos lessened after scientists determined breathing its fibers can cause cancer.

But the material remains widespread in older buildings, such as the hospital built in 1955.

Whitaker said the asbestos is located inside the ceilings and basement of the three-story building. Controlled Environmental Systems of San Diego, a contractor, has been hired to remove the material.

To accommodate the work, portions of the hospital will be shut down in phases and activities relocated to other areas if possible.

“But there will be times when some services will be either unavailable or drastically curtailed,” the Air Force said in a statement.

The hospital has 15 inpatient beds, but typically handles about 11,000 outpatient visits a month as the medical facility for the base’s military personnel and their families.

Edwards is about 100 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles.