Potsdam, NY Civic Center Gets Asbestos Remediation after Cancer Deaths

In Potsdam, New York, two workers at the city's civic center, or city hall, died this summer within three weeks of one another, raising fears of asbestos contamination in the building on Park Street in downtown Potsdam.

One, Sharon M. LaDuke, 57, died May 29 after being diagnosed with mesothelioma, a rare and often fatal cancer linked with asbestos exposure. The other, Linda M. Power, 59, a tax collector, died June 19 of ovarian cancer.

Asbestos, a fibrous mineral widely used in various building products during most of the last century, can cause irritations in the mesothelial linings of the lungs, abdomen and pelvis, leading to lesions that may develop into cancer.

The difficulty with asbestos exposure is that a single incident can trigger mesothelioma, which commonly lies dormant for several decades before producing symptoms of such intensity that doctors can diagnose it. By that time, however, the tumors have invaded so many tissues and vital organs that the prognosis is very poor, and most patients are given between a year and 18 months to live.

The illnesses in Potsdam apparently triggered an examination for asbestos, and on June 5 contractors working at the behest of the state's Public Employee Health and Safety Bureau took a core sample through the roof into the building, and then patched the hole.

The patch, about a foot in diameter, started to leak, so officials shut the courtroom and have been holding court in the civic center board room.

During testing, the core sample demonstrated asbestos-containing mastic in tiles affixed to the courtroom ceiling, and employees were understandably upset when John Usher, an inspector from the state's Public Employee Health and Safety Bureau, showed up on Wednesday, June 24, to address their concerns.

On May 19, Canton-based Atlantic Testing Laboratories tested 15 locations inside the civic center for asbestos, and all came back at the non-detection level, meaning there were no airborne asbestos fibers inside the building.

Two further tests have also demonstrated that the air quality in the building is safe (that is, below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Permissible Exposure Limit, or PEL, of 0.1 fiber per cubic centimeter (f/cc) of air, calculated as an 8-hour, time-weighted average, or TWA). In spite of that, Usher's meeting with employees and union representatives - and his subsequent asbestos awareness Q&A sessions - have done little to reassure, falling as they do one day after workers returned from Power's funeral.

Usher described the condition of the building as "typical for its age". Potsdam Deputy Mayor Ruth F. Garner, who attended the Wednesday session, has described the employee's furor as a "fiasco", and says that, while there may be cause for concern, the aura of fear has created a prejudice that might not be overcome even if testing shows the building safe.

Potsdam officials are still waiting for the state's final report, and expect that they will be cited for two violations; the first from an unlabeled boiler room pipe with asbestos insulation, the second for not providing asbestos awareness training to workers and staff. Garner said both problems have since been addressed.

The four remaining asbestos abatement projects will come from Potsdam general funds, and be completed within three months. Trustees voted not to approve $500 per day for an air monitoring system, because all the testing so far has shown the civic center's air is safe.

Sources: US Geological Service, Watertown Daily Times

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