Asbestos Air Tests Show No Issues In Lake Co. Offices: Officials

LAKE COUNTY, IL – Lake County government offices in Waukegan will open again Monday after air testing found no asbestos contamination in a building that officials closed early on Friday. The closures impacted about 100 employees in the basement of the County’s Administration Building, Treasurer’s Office and County Clerk’s Office, according to a news release. The county’s licensed asbestos abatement contractor worked Friday and Saturday to clean the affected area and test the air.

Officials decided to close some of the offices early after discovering tiles containing asbestos that were disturbed after a large piece of printing equipment was moved. The closures impacted about 100 employees in the basement of the County’s Administration Building, Treasurer’s Office and County Clerk’s Office. Other areas in the building were not affected as they’re not connected to the same air handler, county officials said.

According to the county’s contractor, a disturbance of floor tiles poses very low health risk to building occupants. Floor tiles are non-friable material, which means they cannot be crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder by hand pressure and thus less likely to release measurable levels of asbestos into the airborne environment when disturbed, according to a news release.

PHOTO VIA GOOGLEMAPS