By Jenny Blake
Daily Bruin Contributor
[email protected]
After six months of investigations, the state issued UCLA
Facilities Management a proposed citation for not properly
notifying College Library employees in a construction area of
possible asbestos contamination.
“The proposed $375 citation is in response to complaints
filed in January after contaminated ceiling tiles were
discovered,” said Dean Fryer, a spokesman for the California
Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The university was given 15 days after the proposed citation
““ issued on July 19 ““ to decide on a course of action.
Facilities Management can either pay the fine or exhaust the
appeals process, after which the citation becomes official.
University officials are currently deciding whether to appeal
the proposed citation or pay the fine, though they do not believe
they are at fault.
“We feel that we followed all of the rules and
regulations,” said Jack Powazek, assistant vice chancellor of
Facilities Management. “Given the small nature of the fine,
we have to decide if it’s even worth pursuing an
appeal.”
The university is undecided on the penalty’s appeal
because officials feel they complied with CAL/OSHA regulations.
“After the third floor construction site tested positive
for asbestos, it was evacuated and closed,” Powazek said.
CAL/OSHA investigations were performed to determine whether or
not asbestos surveys were done prior to starting construction and
whether or not proper notifications were put out to employees in
the affected area.
“At the time of inspection, it was determined that prior
to demolition work on third floor of Powell Library, the building
owner/facility owner did not notify employees who will be
performing work within or adjacent to (affected) areas,” the
proposed citation states.
Over the years, ceiling tiles in the library have been replaced
and painted over, so it is difficult to determine exactly which
tiles are affected.
The university did the required random sample test of a ceiling
tile before starting the project, which yielded negative
results.
However, all of the tiles were assumed to be the same when in
fact some were older and contained asbestos, Fryer said.
“(Facilities Management) was making a reasonable judgement
and so there was nothing there that we could fault them for,”
Fryer said. “But we did find employees working in the area
who should have been informed about the activities there prior to
the work being done.”
Asbestos was widely used in building materials before it was
considered dangerous by the Environmental Protection Agency in the
1970s.
Intact and undisturbed asbestos-containing material is
relatively harmless, but when fibers get into the air and are
inhaled, lung tissue can become aggravated.
Asbestos-related diseases such as lung cancer, asbestos, the
scarring of lung tissues, and mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining
of the lung and chest, could develop over time from asbestos
exposure, according to the EPA.