Asbestos Test Negative At East Brunswick Library, But State Agencies Suggest Cleanup

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ — The East Brunswick Public closed its building to the public due to concerns over potential asbestos in the area being renovated.

On Tuesday, Mayor Brad Cohen provided the community with an update on the matter, saying the testing was done without the chain of custody. More: Potential Asbestos Closes East Brunswick Public Library Indefinitely

During renovation work in the children’s section of the library, discarded material was sent for testing and the asbestos levels were below 1 percent, which is considered “negative testing.”

Cohen said that the material from the library was sent for testing without any chain of custody.

“We subsequently learned that someone notified all local, county, and state agencies about the possible exposure. The New Jersey Department of Labor came out about two weeks ago and took samples from the dumpster without any chain of custody. Testing on these samples were also less than 1% which again is considered negative for asbestos.”

Following the information sent to state agencies, the New Jersey Department of Health (NJ DOH) and the New Jersey Department of Labor (NJ DOL) followed up by visiting the library for an air quality test conducted with a consultant.

Those results too were negative for asbestos, Cohen said.

Despite the negative tests, the NJ DOH asked the Township to contact a NJ DOL approved consultant to determine how to proceed.

“The consultant recommended a full remediation clean-up despite three negative tests for asbestos, and the Department of Health forwarded this recommendation to several other state departments,” Cohen said.

Township officials and the Library are of the view that this step was “unnecessary” given three negative tests for asbestos.

“Additionally, the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs is the agency that has jurisdiction over these issues, and they have issued an opinion that these are not asbestos containing materials and that this is not an asbestos abatement project,” Cohen said.

The township has now employed the services of Peak Environmental to offer a second opinion on the NJ DOH’s recommendation. Peak Environment is a local environmental engineering firm, to have a Licensed Site Remediation Professional (LSRP).

Cohen said that a full remediation clean-up, as suggested by the DOL’s contractor, will take several weeks and will result in a significant expense to taxpayers.

“If this is what is needed, we will certainly comply. However, the standard clean-up that would have been done is much faster and is far less expensive,” Cohen said.

“As soon as we receive word from our consultants, the Township and Library will make the findings available to the public and take whatever action it recommends.”

The library will be closed indefinitely until the matter is resolved. All library programs and passport appointments are canceled, but residents can visit the virtual library for online resources.

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