Asbestos Testing for Oneida County Building Funded by Union

The Oneida County Office Building in Utica, New York has recently tested negative for airborne asbestos. Apparently though, that isn’t good enough for the union, which represents county employees. United Public Service Employees Union Spokesperson Linda Kirnan says the organization plans to have their own round of tests performed on the building as well.

The asbestos problems were found on November 11 during routine maintenance processes. While tests were being performed, the building was completely evacuated to ensure the safety of all workers in the building.

The entire building was tested for airborne asbestos the day after the discovery was made. All tests came back negative, and county employees have been allowed to return to work without the fear of developing mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases later in life.

The county is now planning to spend an estimated $15.4 million in addition to the $5.5 million already spent to completely remove all asbestos-containing materials from the building. Abatement on the building has been ongoing since the late 1990s, with seven of the building’s ten floors still requiring abatement.

According to County Executive Anthony Picente, the asbestos scare this week proves that the project is well worth the money it will cost.

County Legislator Frank Tallarino, a licensed asbestos contractor, is confident that the test results were accurate and that the building is safe to work in.

For the United Public Service Employees Union, however, this isn’t enough. Spokesperson Linda Kirnan says, “As a result of the closing [of the office building], we received numerous complaints and concerns [about the asbestos].”

Many of the employees in the building are very familiar with the types of asbestos cancer that can develop as a result of asbestos exposure. They realize the importance of such testing and would hate to experience mesothelioma symptoms later in life when they could have been avoided.

According to Kirnan, the results of the county-funded tests aren’t being disputed, but she believes union members would feel more comfortable about working in the building if the union funded a second set of tests.

Kirnan says the union-funded tests have already been conducted on five floors of the building and results are expected within a week.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 20th, 2008 at 3:50 pm and is filed under Asbestos Exposure, Asbestos Testing, Mesothelioma. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. Responses are currently closed, but you trackback from your own site.