City Hall closed for asbestos testing

RACINE City Hall could remain closed most of Wednesday as officials wait to find out the full results of asbestos testing that took place Tuesday.

Officials announced they were closing the building, 730 Washington Ave., late Tuesday morning, soon after discovering that asbestos dust from an abatement project on the third floor might have escaped the containment area set up by contractors. The asbestos is being removed as part of an ongoing renovation of the third floor.

City staff noticed a small pile of dust laying outside the containment area where contractors had been doing tile work, Dickert said, and notified the administration. Employees are working on the third floor while a portion of that floor is being renovated.

Dickert said the discovery occurred right after employees arrived Tuesday morning, and that by 11 a.m. most employees were out of the building.

On Tuesday, just before 7 p.m., Dickert said crews had found traces of asbestos in the air near the place where the dust was found, but that crews were still testing the rest of the building and would likely finish at some point during the night.

Asbestos was once commonly used in insulation and other building products, but its fibers can cause health problems if they are inhaled. Removal of products containing asbestos is highly regulated.

Dickert said the amount of asbestos in the tile glue that contractors were handling is about 2 percent.

That is actually considered quite small, but asbestos is asbestos, and we dont want to take risks, he said.

Once the city finds out what the extent of the contamination is, it will determine what clean-up is needed.

We are going to go back to the company (doing the renovation work) and obviously talk to them about paying for this through their liability insurance, he said. We plan on them cleaning it all up.

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City Hall closed for asbestos testing