The air filter humming away on her desk is a new addition to North Carolina Rep. Maria Cervania’s office. It’s been there ever since she came around the corner from her office late one night to find a warning sign and tape blocking off the hallway. The danger: asbestos.
“I saw plastic being taped on the doors and walls and then the asbestos caution signs, and I knew this wasn't quite right,” Cervania, D-Wake, said. “And we weren't getting any notifications on it that this work was going to happen.”
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On an average day, hundreds of schoolchildren from across the state tour the building on field trips. Cervania said she’s concerned for their safety, as well as for advocates and other community members who visit the statehouse.
The state legislative building is more than 60 years old. Like many buildings of its age, it was built using asbestos for fire prevention. People who are exposed to the building material can develop a variety of cancers, studies show. Removing it from the building has been a years-long process, often coinciding with other repairs in the building.
"I looked into it," said Sen. Phil Berger when asked about the matter. "[I] don't think there's anything to be concerned about."
"It's not something that I would have expected to be advised of, and am not concerned that I wasn't in advance," Berger added.
Cervania emailed the building director, Legislative Services Officer Paul Coble, for information. Coble responded that the fire alarm system was being replaced. The removal was taking place on nights and weekends “to avoid disturbing people while they work,” Coble said in his email response to Cervania, which was viewed by WRAL.
“There is no risk to anyone in the building as we do the work,” Coble said in the email. “And out of an abundance of care, we work with our long-time vendors … to monitor the work and make sure that all work is done properly and without risk to people in the building.”
“We also have spot checks by DHHS to make sure that all work is done according to protocol and proper procedures,” Coble added.
The state Department of Health and Human Services confirmed they performed an inspection on Feb. 17.
The word “asbestos” wasn’t used in Coble’s email. But Cervania said contractors have told her they were working with it.
Neither Coble nor legislative leaders, who oversee the Legislative Services Office, immediately responded to WRAL’s request for comment.
“As a public-health person, I know that if any movement of asbestos happens in a building, it could take 80 hours to actually have it get out of the ambient air,” said Cervania, who has a degree in public health. “I know that they said that there's machines monitoring it, but this building is so large, the machines are so small, and they're the ones that I saw were sort of antiquated.”
Cervania said warning signs are posted while the work is underway, but they’re removed during the day when people are around.
“I would hope that our Legislative Services Office would let us know and be more transparent about the work, not only to us here, who are working here, but also to the public,” Cervania said.
“We’ve seen what happened at Poe Hall,” she added, referring to the recent discovery of carcinogenic air particles in an N.C. State University academic building. “We don't want something like that again.”
Most of the statehouse repairs involving asbestos, at least in recent years, have been done between legislative sessions while few lawmakers or members of the public are in the building, with areas closed off during the process.
This time, it’s taking place during the legislative session but between 5 p.m. and 8 a.m. — times when the building is closed to the public but when lawmakers and staff like Cervania may be working late.
She says the building should have been closed off this time as well.
“We have ventilation that goes through this whole building, so who knows how it was going through if it was disrupted?” Cervania said. “We always should be safe and not sorry in these situations.”