: Asbestos Found in Newark City Building

NEWARK — Tests on debris from a third-floor ceiling in the Newark Municipal Building revealed the presence of Asbestos, a known health hazard that can cause lung cancer.

The city administration received preliminary results Friday and final results Monday that Asbestos existed in the ceiling of two adult probation offices where vents were being replaced.

North American Environmental Ltd., of Columbus, cleaned the area Saturday. Five air samples taken Saturday after the cleaning found no Asbestos remaining in the area.

The adult probation offices were closed Monday for additional air sampling, but all city offices were expected to be open today. The entire building will be checked and tested for additional Asbestos, particularly in offices with a plaster ceiling and no drop ceiling.

Honeywell has been working in the city building as part of its contract with the city to improve heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems. The company has been upgrading ventilation air diffusers for about six weeks, creating dust that concerned some employees.

Municipal Court Judge Michael Higgins asked Honeywell to test for Asbestos after one of his employees raised concerns last week about dust on the third floor.

“One employee who used to be a paralegal for Owens Corning litigation happened to walk into another employee’s office, and she said this looks like a lot of the pictures in that litigation process,” Higgins said.

Deputy Clerk of Courts Brad Feightner, who works on the third floor, said employee concerns were taken seriously.

“They had concerns, but no one could answer their concerns until the testing was done,” Feightner said. “Anytime you have construction people in tearing down fixtures and replacing vent systems, you’re not going to be dust-free.”

Honeywell representative Chris Hess, Service Director Dave Calhoun and Citizen Services Director Marti Kolb met with department heads late Monday to tell them of the finding.

“If it is someplace else, we’re going through and cleaning it,” Kolb said. “We’re willing to do employee meetings with you (Tuesday).”

The building was built in 1967, and the fourth floor added 10 years later. Asbestos was no longer used after about 1981, Hess said, but the ceiling area showed improvements which could only have been completed after 1981, when Asbestos should not have been used.

“Honeywell was totally surprised because of the time period,” Mayor Bruce Bain said. “It caught everybody by surprise.”

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