Workers work on the Farm Show Building in Harrisburg on May 13, 2024. (Jeremy Long - WITF)
Asbestos discovered in Pa. Farm Show Complex years after removal project
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Ben Wasserstein/WITF
Workers work on the Farm Show Building in Harrisburg on May 13, 2024. (Jeremy Long - WITF)
Correction: The story was updated to correct the age of the affected windows.
From 2020 to 2021, the Farm Show Complex underwent a $21 million renovation, which included removing asbestos.
Workers missed a spot.
Additional asbestos was discovered during repairs to the East Wall. It was in the caulk of 14 old windows, according to Eric Veronikis, a spokesperson for the state Department of General Services.
“The window caulk where the asbestos was found intact was removed and disposed of safely by the contractors in compliance with applicable laws, contract documents, and industry standards,” he said.
Approximately 70 square feet of asbestos was removed.
The new work extends the previous effort and is part of the repairs to the East Wall facing Cameron Street.
Air monitoring tests of spaces near the work area were performed before, during and after the repair, and no measurable contamination was found.
Undisturbed asbestos material in good condition is not immediately dangerous, according to the American Lung Association. However, tiny fibers can be released into the air when a building is renovated or torn down.
Those fibers can enter the lungs and cause numerous health problems such as respiratory disease and some cancers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Details of the repair were not widely shared. The office of Judy Schwank, D-Berks, who sits on the Farm Show Commission, which oversees the facility, was not notified of the repairs.
She is also the Democratic Chair of the Senate Agricultural and Rural Affairs Committee
“Senator Schwank will ask about it and expects it to be discussed at the next commission meeting,” Spencer Thornburg, a spokesperson for Schwank, said. “She is confident that Farm Show building management will promptly and thoroughly address the issue.”
Sen. Elder Vogel Jr., R-Beaver, is the Republican chair of the Senate Agricultural and Rural Affairs committee and member of the Farm Show Commission. He declined to comment.
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