ASBESTOS LADEN TILES / REMOVAL / EMPLOYEES

Motion - Los Angeles Housing Authority workers have asserted that for some time they had routinely removed asbestos-laden tiles without wearing respirators and while tenants were still in their apartments. Cal/OSHA officials have launched an investigation and the Housing Authority has decided to contract with asbestos experts to remove tiles and linoleum due to the possibility of asbestos-containing materials. Some Housing Authority employees have indicated that they had expressed concerns for five years that they lacked the proper protective gear to remove tiles and other flooring from hundreds of old apartments operated by the Housing Authority. These concerns have now been translated into concerns about the workers' health, including worries that exposure to asbestos might cause them to get cancer. The Housing Authority has reportedly acknowledged that tiles and adhesive removed by the agency crews appeared to contain asbestos, and a decision has been made to now evacuate tenants as a precaution when tiles containing asbestos are involved. Although some of the workers were given training in the identification and handling of asbestos, they were never given protective respirators. Lab results reportedly indicate that the tiles were 7% asbestos and that the adhesive contained 5% asbestos. The Housing Authority facilities involved include Nickerson Gardens, San Fernando Gardens, Pueblo del Rio, Jordan Downs and William Mead. In addition, South Coast Air Quality Management District inspectors have taken samples from a work site for analysis and have issued a "notice to comply" that requires the Housing Authority to provide documentation to show that proper procedures are in place to handle asbestos. THEREFORE MOVE that the Housing Authority, the South Coast Air Quality Management District, and representatives of the involved Housing Authority workers be requested to report to the Environmental Quality and Waste Management Committee relative to allegations of removal of asbestos-laden tiles by workers without wearing respirators and while tenants were still in their apartments at various Housing Authority facilities including Nickerson Gardens, San Fernando Gardens, Pueblo del Rio, Jordan Downs and William Mead.