Newburgh’s West End Firehouse found to have asbestos

NEWBURGH – The West End Firehouse on Upper Broadway in the City of Newburgh has been determined to contain asbestos, according to laboratory test results.
A report from Quest Environmental Solutions and Technologies, requested by the city, studied the first floor kitchen, first floor kitchen bathroom, first floor stairwell to second floor and the second floor perimeter column across from the bathroom.
Test results, conducted for Quest by Eastern Analytical Services of Elmsford, New York found asbestos in the first floor kitchen wall plaster finish coat, first floor stairwell to second floor wall sheetrock joint compound, and the second floor column across from the bathroom plastic finish coat.
“Debris associated with the above identified asbestos-containing materials was observed within the general vicinity of the damaged building materials,” said Quest inspector and project designer Rudy Lipinski, director of field operations, in a report to City Manager Michael Ciaravino.
Lipinski wrote that those areas classified as incidental to disturbance of asbestos-containing materials which poses “an imminent danger or the health and safety of the public or an asbestos related risk to the health and safety of the public from release of airborne asbestos fibers.
Ciaravino told the city council Quest recommended the building be shut down until the issue can be remediated.
“If in the opinion of (Fire) Chief Ahlers and (Assistant Fire) Chief Horton, in consultation with Quest and our city engineer, the opinion is we need to leave that building, we will then talk about ways in which to preserve the readiness of the West End fire station, if for example, we are allowed to keep the apparatus and mobile temporary housing, we are going to explore that option.”
The city manager also said the public safety building, at the foot of Broadway, which houses the police department and main firehouse, also has environmental issues, but the city has been employing large dehumidifiers and air scrubbers to resolve them.