A recent 6.5 magnitude earthquake in Eureka, California has caused some damage to the Eureka Municipal Auditorium which has raised concerns regarding asbestos contamination. The city’s designated art agency, The Ink People, had been housed in a wing of the Municipal Auditorium for some time up until the quake. The earthquake caused the collapse of several ceiling tiles in the art agency’s offices, which may have been manufactured using asbestos materials in decades past. In order to avoid any potential exposure to harmful asbestos fibers, The Ink People have been moved out of their offices until repairs can be made to the building. Although the damage to the art agency’s wing of the building was fairly minimal, the building as a whole sustained a substantial amount of loss - possibly requiring as much as $500,000 in repairs. The Northern Californian Indian Development has graciously provided temporary offices to house the faculty of Eureka’s displaced art agency in an effort to prevent exposure to dangerous asbestos fibers that may now be contaminating the building.
“There is asbestos,” said Gary Bird, the team spokesperson for the Eureka emergency response team, “and because the plaster is loose, there could be airborne asbestos.”
The use of various asbestos products was commonplace in the construction of municipal, commercial and residential buildings throughout the 20th century in the United States. Although asbestos was determined to be hazardous to human health as early as the 1930’s, its use in industry continued with little change up until 1989 when the the United States Environmental Protection Agency passed the Asbestos Ban and Phase Out Rule. The new law attempted to completely cease the substance’s use in all sectors throughout the United States, but it was overturned just two years later in 1991. Today, while certain asbestos products can still be legally used in various industries, there are strict regulations which monitor its use as well as federal and state laws that enforce safe handling and disposal practices that reduce exposure to asbestos which can cause illness and death.
Thus far, no steps have been taken to repair the Eureka Municipal Auditorium and all of The Ink People’s programs have been temporarily suspended due to the fact that their new offices are too small to host their normal events. Gary Bird says that the City of Eureka certainly plans to repair the building as soon as they can, and Libby Maynard, the executive director of the city’s art agency adds that her agency has aided the council in the past, and that “It all comes around.”
