Asbestos discovered at Auburn's Vitale Building this week has not been disturbed and causes no health risk, a county official said Wednesday.

On Monday afternoon, Geomatrix Consultants identified asbestos in a mechanical crawl space in the mezzanine area of the building on Genesee Street while conducting an environmental survey on the building.

County Manager Wayne Allen said Wednesday that the material in the crawl space was identified as asbestos but that it hasn't contaminated any other area of the building.

"Asbestos testing came back negative. Air samples were clean and there was no migration of contamination out of the mechanical crawl space," Allen said. "The county will have to address that issue."

Allen said the area where asbestos was found is a small place unoccupied by people.

Allen is waiting to hear back from Geomatrix for the consultant's abatement recommendations before proceeding to the Legislature. All legislators have been notified, Allen said.

"We have to identify proper steps, see what the recommendations are and then move as quickly as we can from there," Allen said.

Geomatrix began the surveys Jan. 2 and plans to review all county-owned buildings for environmental hazards.

Staff writer Kristina Martino can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kristina.martino@lee.net

Read the full report in Thursday's edition of The Citizen.