Submit your claim details for a free, no obligation case review
Get Started:
The Oneida County Office Building in Utica, New York is the location of a recent asbestos scare, and the United Public Service Employees Union that represents the workers there has requested further testing for asbestos in the building.
Oneida County , in the middle of the state, is part of the Utica-Rome metropolitan area. The population is about 240,000, and more than 700 people work in the County Office building, which was closed for a day on Nov. 12 after asbestos-containing material (ACM) was found near the ventilation system on a basement level.
The county then conducted asbestos air-quality tests on the floor where the ACM was found and on four of the building's other 10 floors. Although the initial results were negative, the building was opened to employees the following day. Several employees contacted their union about their concerns regarding working near asbestos.
County Executive Anthony Picente noted that the asbestos testing resulted in economic loss for the county, including:
Oneida County - like many governmental entities across the U.S. - finally started asbestos abatement work in its facilities in the 1990s. Seven of the floors in the county building on Park Avenue remain to be done, and the estimated cost per floor is $2.2 million. The county's Public Works Department has said that it will take seven or eight years to complete the abatement work.
(Source: Utica Observer-Dispatch)
If you're concerned about possible asbestos exposure at your workplace, contact us to speak with an asbestos attorney in your area that represents those who have been harmed by this toxin. Learn more about your legal rights.