
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, September 20, 1993                   TAG: 9309200124
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short

WILDER ORDERS ASBESTOS PROBE

Gov. Douglas Wilder has ordered an investigation into the renovation of a state-owned building here where workers may have been exposed to cancer-causing asbestos fibers.

The cost of removing all asbestos from the building was estimated at $6.6 million, but state officials decided to spend $3.5 million to remove some asbestos and leave the rest enclosed, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Sunday.

H.D.H. Associates Inc. of Salem was in charge of the asbestos-abatement part of the renovation.

The worst contamination came when asbestos fireproofing tumbled out of a heating unit, and workers swept it into piles, according to a May 20 report by state-hired asbestos inspectors.

One source said that as many as 50 workers were exposed for several weeks. Asbestos can cause lung cancer.

by CNB