Utica, N.Y. - On Feb. 25, 2009, town officials ordered the complete evacuation of all persons inside the City Hall building at 1 Kennedy plaza. The evacuation was described as a precautionary measure designed to protect the health of workers and citizens who might otherwise be subjected to exposures to asbestos-a known cancer-causing agent. The problems at City Hall began shortly after 3:30 PM on Wednesday when an energy auditing company's subcontractor disturbed asbestos materials in the building; the subcontractor's action raised the possibility of human exposures to the hazardous material, and as a result, the building was immediately evacuated and closed to everyone except environmental safety and asbestos abatement personnel.
The sudden closure of City Hall took more than town workers by surprise, many Utica citizens who had important business in the building were equally taken aback by the structure's locked doors. Utica's Mayor David Roefero apologized for any inconvenience. "We did what we had to do," Roefero said. "The building at 1 Kennedy Plaza will remain closed and city services such as tax assistance and notaries public will be unavailable until further notice," stated the Mayor. Town officials wanted to send a clear message that no one was taking any chances when it came to possible exposures to asbestos.
Asbestos is a mineral that occurs naturally in the soil or in above-ground formations; the substance can be found in abundance and in a variety of types in all four corners of the world. Once widely utilized by numerous industries, asbestos can be found in products from brake pads to hair curlers to building materials, etc. Highly resistant to damage from heat, electricity, and corrosive chemicals, asbestos is a substance that was once considered to be too good to be true-unfortunately, it was.
In the early 1970s, numerous scientific and medical investigations confirmed the fact that microscopic, airborne asbestos fibers posed a dire threat to human health. Research confirmed that once asbestos fibers had been inhaled into the lungs, they would become permanently lodged in soft tissues where, up to 50 years later, these brittle and needle-like fibers could cause the onset of serious respiratory diseases.
Exposures to airborne asbestos fibers can result in illnesses such as asbestosis, which causes a debilitating scarring of the lungs, as well as the incurable and inevitably fatal form of cancer known as malignant pleural mesothelioma. Because of the significant health risks associated with asbestos exposures, Utica town officials were taking no chances with the hazardous materials that were disturbed at the Kennedy Plaza building.
As a result of the City Hall closure, one town service has taken up temporary residence elsewhere-the Mohawk Valley Water Authority (MVWA) has set up a makeshift operation in a maintenance facility structure on Kemble Street. MVWA Executive Director Patrick Becher noted that the Kemble Street building has had asbestos issues of its own. "It's kind of ironic, " said Becher. Heating pipes at the Kemble Street building were wrapped with asbestos, a fact that had only recently been discovered. Recent air quality tests have been conducted in the building and no problems were reported. "It's not a threat," Becher said. "They said it was fine."
Meanwhile, back at City Hall, Jean Genovese, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Labor reports that the Kennedy Plaza building had been approved for emergency asbestos abatement procedures, and that all appropriate interim measures had been taken. "We didn't issue them any citations," Genovese said about City Hall officials, "they did the right thing and got everyone out of the building right away."
It remains unclear as to when City Hall will reopen to workers and the general public. Mayor Roefero says that abatement procedures will move ahead without delay, and Utica citizens will be kept fully apprised of progress at the building.
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