Asbestos Found in Courthouse
The ceilings in the Columbia County Courthouse in Portage, Wisc. are full of asbestos and the hazardous material will have to be ripped out to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars, reports the city’s building and grounds department director.
According to an article in the Portage Daily Register, abatement will need to be done on the hallway ceilings of all three levels of the courthouse. “A recent asbestos inspection of the courthouse — spurred by the late March discovery of asbestos that led to the district attorney’s office being shut down for half a day — turned up a ‘big shocker’ in the hallway ceiling tiles,” says the director Corey Wiegel.
Other areas containing asbestos – about 16 in all – can be handled in a less costly manner, Wiegel explained. Ceiling tiles in the offices and courtrooms do not contain asbestos, the article noted, although some pipes in the ceiling have asbestos insulation which will need to be covered but not removed. That will keep down the costs, Wiegel notes.
No date has been set for the work but Wiegel hopes that it can be completed on a weekend when employees are not there and court is not in session. He stresses, however, that during the abatement process all necessary precautions will be taken and no health hazards will be present. But this may not be the end of the Columbia County Courthouse’s asbestos woes.
“Would the ceiling project, and the minor abatement projects at the 16 other asbestos-containing sites, leave the courthouse completely free of asbestos?” asked building and grounds committee member, Don DeYoung. “If we go ahead with this, can we say we’re in the clear?”
No, said Wiegel.
According to the report, there are several other places in the courthouse which are likely to contain asbestos, though its presence was not definitely confirmed in the inspection. If a major construction or demolition project were to be proposed at the courthouse, Weigel said, inspections would probably need to be done again and further abatement may be necessary.
