Monday is the due date for ASU to pay a fine to Maricopa County for releasing asbestos during the 2006 reconstruction of the Memorial Union on the Tempe campus.
The University incurred 11 alleged violations in August 2006 during construction done in the union’s TV lounge.
As a result, the University will pay $44,950 in settlement fines to the Maricopa County Air Quality Department and $52,562 to host five asbestos education compliance seminars, ASU spokeswoman Sharon Keeler said.
The money will come from Memorial Union operating funds, Keeler said.
She added the violations were not the fault of the University, but Re:Source, the outside contractor hired for the renovations, had made the mistake to remove floor tiles in the TV lounge with a machine.
The use of the machine would have to have been reported to the county’s air-quality department and was not, Keeler said.
Keeler said though she thought it was the fault of the contractor, the air department always gives fault to the building owner and not the contractor.
“I think it’s most important to note ASU has taken action to update its procedures so this will limit the possibility of this happening again,” Keeler said. “The thing to be aware of is it was an outside contractor that was responsible. They were doing a procedure they shouldn’t have been. The new procedures are meant to help mitigate that from happening again.”
Keeler said the contractor is no longer used by the University.
Re:Source spokesman Pete Weidner said the situation was “unfortunate for all parties.”
“The Maricopa County air-quality control spent two years investigating the case, and they are the responsible party for determining fault and penalties in situations of this nature,” he said. “And they gave penalties to any parties they deemed responsible.”
Erin Dunsey, spokeswoman for the Maricopa County Air Quality Department, said in an e-mail the impact on the community would be difficult to determine because it’s unknown how many people were exposed to the asbestos.
“As the tile in the Memorial Union/TV Lounge was being torn up, there was no containment [of asbestos],” Dunsey said. “In the Memorial Union there is a restaurant and a record store where there are potential workers/customers.”
Dunsey said any company that wishes to make any renovations should contact the department to find out the regulations before beginning the construction process.
She said the University’s seminars would be open to the public and cover department regulations for facility owners. ASU plans to hold a seminar at each campus starting later this year.
Jason Donofrio, a leader in two groups that do environmental work — ASU Public Information Research Groups and the Clean Campus Campaign, said the asbestos seminars would be a good idea as long as the University put enough work into them to make them effective.
“If the seminars are taken seriously to ensure this prevents the same issue and further issues from happening, then I would say that it’s a good punishment,” said Donofrio, an anthropology junior.
Reach the reporter at allison.gatlin@asu.edu.
