UN, As International Territory, Allows Improper Asbestos Abatement

If the work was being done anywhere else in the United States, it would be subject to scrutiny by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Center's for Disease Control's National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH), or the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA.

Because it is being done at the United Nations, the asbestos removal at this 60-year-old, 40-story skyscraper in the heart of New York City is being conducted with doors unsealed between the remediation area and the areas where UN employees work.

It's a situation that wouldn't be tolerated anywhere else in the city, or the country for that matter, but the UN represents international territory, so the laws don't apply, at least according to Michael Adlerstein, project manager, who describes the remediation as part of the UN's Capital Master Plan. Adlerstein, an architect, has even set up a website to reassure UN employees and visitors about the safety of the procedures, and has also reportedly met with interpreters who are concerned about remaining behind once non-essential personnel are evacuated during the main stages of renovation.

Officials for ATC Associates, the asbestos remediation contractor, add that sealing the area isn't necessary because workers are being protected by a negative-pressure air handling system that prevents loose asbestos particles from drifting outside the remediation area.

The fact is ATC can't be sued even if they err in their calculations because the building has a special legal status that provides an automatic defense against future liability. This, some employees speculate, may lead asbestos workers to be less careful than they would be in other circumstances.

ATC, whose representative Roney Rivero attended an employee meeting and was heard to express the opinion that there is no link between asbestos and cancer, may not know that his company has already been cited for Clean Air Act violations, most recently in Rhode Island, where ATC "failed to characterize and/or failed appropriately to characterize the lithology of the site, and thus had insufficient information upon which to project the transport and fate of any contaminants on the site".

Staff continues to work in the UN Library, where asbestos remediation has been completed on the first and second floors. The equipment that was used is being stored on the various floors, and a film of dust that coats almost every surface makes it hard to remain confident. Work on the third floor was scheduled over the Memorial Day weekend. Air quality samples of the building, taken several years ago, do not help since they've never been revealed. Total renovation (and remediation) is expected to take several years.

Stephen Kisambira, president of the union representing UN staff, reports that the union has adopted a number of resolutions demanding that a risk assessment be performed, but those demands have been ignored. At the entrance to the library hangs a notice of asbestos abatement, with the phone number (311) for the City of New York's non-emergency department appended.

These are not good signs, nor is the fact that the general contractor, Skanska, has had asbestos-related violations charged against it as well. The charges have reportedly been dropped, and Marie Okabe, UN deputy spokesperson, says that the UN has every confidence in those performing the remediation.

Asbestos, a fibrous mineral, has been identified as a cause of asbestosis, implicated in a variety of lung and digestive system cancers, and is the only known cause of mesothelioma, a lethal cancer of the mesothelial tissue in the lungs and abdomen. Mesothelioma is one of the "silent killer" diseases, laying dormant for three or more decades and then exploding into cancers for which there is no known cure. Most patients diagnosed with mesothelioma are given 18 months, or less, to live.

Sources: Inner City Press, Reuters

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