The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries has fined Klickitat County $20,500 after state inspectors issued nine citations for the county's failure to properly remove floor tiles containing asbestos in the county's Senior Services building.
According to documents dated July 20 and supplied by the Department of Labor & Industries, Senior Services staff, clients, and workers "may" have been exposed to asbestos in the Annex 2 building between April 2 and April 15 when Klickitat County Building and Grounds Maintenance Department workers and two Klickitat County Jail inmates removed carpeting.
When they removed the carpeting, tiles containing asbestos had stuck to the carpet and were also removed.
"We did not handle this properly," said Klickitat County Commissioner Don Struck. "We screwed up. We were replacing the carpet, and the tiles came up with the carpet, but we didn't follow protocol. We offered employees the opportunity to be tested -- probably six or seven employees work there -- but no one has taken us up on the offer."
The county's maintenance department did not perform pre-abatement air sampling to check for asbestos fibers, and the employer didn't provide the workers with personal monitoring and safety equipment.
Struck pointed out that many older buildings have asbestos in them.
"It's safe as along as it's not disturbed," Struck explained. "The tiles tested within allowable standards, but we were worried until the test results came back. That can be nasty if it gets in the air."
Each of the nine penalties carry a $2,250 fine. Eight of the penalties are for improperly removing the carpet and tile and the ninth penalty is for failing to have the tile and carpet tested for asbestos before removal.
State inspectors said there is no longer a danger of asbestos in the building.
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