City Officials Conduct Tests For Possible Asbestos Contamination At Police Facility
By Walt Hunter
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- City officials say final results are expected Thursday on tests for possible asbestos contamination at Philadelphia Police Accident Investigation Headquarters at 26th and Master Streets in North Philadelphia.
Several of the more than 50 officers assigned to the unit raised concerns Tuesday after they found their desks covered with plastic, and coated with dust and debris, which had fallen through holes in the ceiling, as a new air conditioning system was being installed.
Out of an "abundance of caution," the Mayor's Press Secretary Mark McDonald confirmed that officers had been temporarily relocated while tests for asbestos were conducted.
Fraternal Order of Police Vice President John McGroady says pictures taken by FOP officers show what he called "deplorable" conditions.
City officials say, initially, they have found no indications of "asbestos containing materials."
The new air conditioning system is part of a $10 million program in fiscal 2013 to help refurbish police facilities citywide.
Officer Jeff Hannah, an AID investigator and police union director, says beyond the concerns over asbestos, he and two fellow officers have complained in recent months about health problems they believe are related to conditions in the aging building where they work.
