Cayuga County workers replaced a boiler and removed asbestos wrapped pipe-work and other debris from the county's Board of Elections building (old jail) this February.
George Fearon, county chairman, said he knew about problems concerning the boiler removal on June 20, but elections and records retention workers were not notified of the potential health risk until Wednesday, July 27. Why did it take 37 days to get the word out and why didn't they use a certified contractor or individual, as required by law?
But wait a minute. This botched-up boiler removal was done in February and the chairman didn't find out about it till June 20, four months later?
Therefore, these nine people were actually exposed to this loose asbestos since February and not since July 27, when the county finally informed them. That's five months and not 37 days later.
It certainly appears that the county's work and communications procedures plus oversight functions need immediate major overhauling.
Asbestos was also found in the basement office of a county building and grounds worker and the state had ordered its removal. A bigger question is: Was the asbestos found in the office brought over from the Board of Elections via the boiler removal activity or do we now have a second asbestos problem at the former post office building?
In 1999, contractor Steven Hunter was convicted, fined and sent to prison for exposing his workers to asbestos dust for several months during the removal of #- and see if this sounds familiar - boilers and pipes. And this happened right here in Auburn at the old Masonic Temple.
One would think that with all the 1999 publicity that many of the long-term Republican entrenched legislators would remember this episode and make sure this wouldn't happen on their watch. A “senior moment?” I doubt it.
Here's a heads up, my friendly legislators: You do recall the oft repeated statement “What did he know and when did he know it?” Yeah - it was your very own “I am not a crook” Tricky Dick Nixon, his plumbers advisors and ... but you know the rest, right?
Their Sergeant Schultz “I know nothing” defense didn't hold up too well, did it? And we don't believe that it will work in this sloppy asbestos removal job either. Seems to me that there may be a few county legislators, et al, that are in potentially deep yogurt. And much as they may try to put the best legal spin on this mess, may find life a touch challenging as this continuing saga unravels.
These are people's lives they've gambled with and not some Mickey Mouse political power play. Hopefully, no one will die just because this county can't follow EPA rules.
Oh boy - is this ever your money.
Balyszak's column appears Mondays in The Citizen and he can be reached at bfsfinancial@adelphia.net
Balyszak's column appears Mondays in The Citizen and he can be reached at bfsfinancial@adelphia.net
But wait a minute. This botched-up boiler removal was done in February and the chairman didn't find out about it till June 20, four months later?
Therefore, these nine people were actually exposed to this loose asbestos since February and not since July 27, when the county finally informed them. That's five months and not 37 days later.
It certainly appears that the county's work and communications procedures plus oversight functions need immediate major overhauling.
Asbestos was also found in the basement office of a county building and grounds worker and the state had ordered its removal. A bigger question is: Was the asbestos found in the office brought over from the Board of Elections via the boiler removal activity or do we now have a second asbestos problem at the former post office building?
In 1999, contractor Steven Hunter was convicted, fined and sent to prison for exposing his workers to asbestos dust for several months during the removal of #- and see if this sounds familiar - boilers and pipes. And this happened right here in Auburn at the old Masonic Temple.
One would think that with all the 1999 publicity that many of the long-term Republican entrenched legislators would remember this episode and make sure this wouldn't happen on their watch. A “senior moment?” I doubt it.
Here's a heads up, my friendly legislators: You do recall the oft repeated statement “What did he know and when did he know it?” Yeah - it was your very own “I am not a crook” Tricky Dick Nixon, his plumbers advisors and ... but you know the rest, right?
Their Sergeant Schultz “I know nothing” defense didn't hold up too well, did it? And we don't believe that it will work in this sloppy asbestos removal job either. Seems to me that there may be a few county legislators, et al, that are in potentially deep yogurt. And much as they may try to put the best legal spin on this mess, may find life a touch challenging as this continuing saga unravels.
These are people's lives they've gambled with and not some Mickey Mouse political power play. Hopefully, no one will die just because this county can't follow EPA rules.
Oh boy - is this ever your money.
Balyszak's column appears Mondays in The Citizen and he can be reached at bfsfinancial@adelphia.net
Balyszak's column appears Mondays in The Citizen and he can be reached at bfsfinancial@adelphia.net
