Earlier this year the Orange Public Library in Orange, New Jersey closed due to concerns about lead and asbestos presences in the building. The library was expected to be reopened to the public toward the end of May, but so far its doors are still closed which has sparked some concern.
The building is an excellent example of turn of the century architecture, exhibiting remarkable aspects of the Beaux Art and Classical Revival styles. It was declared a historic landmark some thirty years ago in 1981.
Asbestos exposure is a serious hazard that can lead to the development of terminal diseases such as mesothelioma, a cancer of the tissue that lines the body’s organ systems. The United States Environmental Protection Agency says that there’s no safe level of asbestos exposure, and the World Health Organization recognizes its link to certain cancers and continues to push for a world without without asbestos products.
The substance was used fervently throughout the twentieth century as insulation, and is almost always present in buildings constructed throughout the 1900′s. Federal and state laws require licensed professionals to be hired in order to safely remove asbestos materials when they are discovered, in order to reduce potential exposure to those who work, live, or visit in affected buildings.
The presence of exposed asbestos in the Orange Public Library was discovered by an employee and confirmed by the state’s subsequent investigation. The state then required the library to begin professional asbestos remediation efforts by the end of March, a deadline which the library’s director failed to meet. The date by which action was required was then extended until the end of June, but the director’s failure to begin seeking contractors or otherwise preparing for the project caused the library board to suspend her. The library was was then closed until further notice.
The city and the library had maintained that the building would reopen to the public at the end of May. The month, however, came and went without any word from state or library officials and without any update published on their website.
Asbestos related diseases have sparked a huge wave of litigation over the past several decades as a result of negligence on the part of employers, building owners, and others who exposed hapless victims to the dangerous substance. The discovery of asbestos in a library public building patronized by hundreds of citizens every day could put the library in a difficult spot if any of their employees or members were to develop health issues due to the incident.
