State Survey Shows County Asbestos Threat : Public Health: A health department report states that asbestos should be removed immediately from half of the public buildings inspected in San Diego County. San Diego officials maintain, however, that the public and city employees face no risk.

SACRAMENTO —  Half of the public buildings in San Diego County inspected last year in a state health department survey contained health-threatening asbestos that should be removed immediately, according to reports released Friday to The Times.

Worst among the San Diego sampling was the San Diego Civic Theatre on C Street, where the survey found 100,000 square feet of spray-applied fireproofing requiring emergency removal from the building’s structural supports and mechanical room. The estimated cost of removal is $600,000.

City officials, who conducted a top-to-bottom check of 158 municipal buildings after receiving the report, said air samples show that the public and city employees face no danger from asbestos in any of the buildings.

“I can say there is no health hazard in any public building in the city of San Diego,” said Alan Johanns, the city’s asbestos program coordinator.

Air samples taken in 19 places in the Civic Theatre, for example, showed no airborne asbestos fibers in most locations and nothing approaching limits set by the state Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Johanns said.

Nevertheless, the city has padlocked a mechanical room where asbestos-containing debris has become exposed, he said.

Also receiving poor marks was the downtown library, where the survey called for emergency removal of asbestos-laden insulation from throughout the building, including sound booths.

“This insulation is friable (crumbles easily) and ranges from good to fair,” says the report on the library, which notes that debris exists in some areas. “This poses a significant hazard since airborne asbestos fibers can be generated.”

In all, the survey, performed under contract to the Department of Health Services by Diagnostic Engineering of Arcadia, found asbestos that needed to be taken out immediately from 11 of the 22 buildings throughout the county that were inspected. The list includes areas of San Diego City Hall, the county social service offices in Escondido and El Cajon, and the Marston House Museum on the edge of Balboa Park.

The 22 San Diego County buildings were part of a statewide inspection of 250 public structures--such as hospitals, airports, libraries, courthouses and police stations--conducted last year by the Department of Health Services and other state agencies to estimate the extent of the asbestos problem in government-owned facilities throughout California.

Survey results have yet to be officially released and are contained in a report awaiting Gov. George Deukmejian’s signature, although it has been forwarded to his office for several months.

However, The Times obtained a copy of the report and reported in September that the entire sample shows a massive amount of asbestos that may cost taxpayers as much as $660 million to remove or stabilize. It also reported that the state agencies recommended removing the asbestos within one year from 42% of the buildings sampled.

How those figures broke down for the San Diego County buildings is shown in the original reports prepared by Diagnostic Engineering Inc. Copies of the reports detailing the findings were sent to each of the local government agencies in September, 1988, but were not released as a group by the state until Friday at The Times’ request.

The original survey reports show that San Diego County’s public buildings fared slightly worse than their counterparts throughout the state.

Of the 22 surveyed, only one--the San Diego County garage--was found to be asbestos-free. All the rest had some form of asbestos in ceiling tile and pipe insulation, many times in rooms outside public areas that are used only by employees.

Half of the 22 buildings required immediate attention, Diagnostic Engineering determined; the rest would require removal in time frames ranging from six months to several years, the reports show.

Preston Porter, project manager for Diagnostic Engineering, said Friday that a recommendation for immediate removal indicates, in his firm’s opinion, that “the conditions probably present some health risk,” and the asbestos should be eliminated within a year.

“Asbestos itself presents a health risk,” Porter said. “In terms of the risk in a particular building, it depends on the type of material and its condition and so forth, whether people can come in contact with the material and whether it has the potential to release fibers. There isn’t a blanket, easy definition that covers every facility.”

At the Civic Theatre, the company found spray-applied fireproofing on the structural support system and in the mechanical room; the consultant noted the presence of asbestos debris.

“Caution should be taken by all maintenance personnel who seem to use these (areas) for repair work,” said the report. “Label warning should be posted to all areas where the presence of this material may be confronted. Also, pipe insulation debris has been noted as mentioned above.

“These both pose a significant health risk since airborne asbestos fibers may be generated by natural air movements,” the report says.

The city of San Diego has hired consultants to prepare plans for removing or capping asbestos in all 158 buildings surveyed, Johanns said. The cost of that effort should be known in the next few months, he said.

County officials could not be reached for comment Friday. In La Mesa, asbestos in the only building surveyed had been capped before Diagnostic Engineering’s inspection.

“All city-owned public buildings were inspected (in the early 1980s) and, if there was any found, it was dealt with,” said Cecil Leonardo, director of public works for the city of La Mesa. “So now we have asbestos-free public buildings.”

Given the results of air samples, Johanns questioned the designation of the Civic Theatre’s asbestos problem as an “emergency.”

“In general, I felt that there are a lot of areas here where they are stating an emergency removal (is needed), and it’s not correct,” Johanns said.

Besides the Civic Theatre and library, problems highlighted by the reports include:

- The boiler mechanical room in San Diego City Hall. “This insulation is very friable and damaged with debris present. This poses a significant health hazard,” the report says.

- The Marston House, which was found to have easily crumbled asbestos throughout, especially around air ducts leading into the closets. The survey called for emergency and immediate removal of the substance from the attic and closets.