The Issue of Asbestos in Maine

In January of 1985, the Maine Bureau of Public Improvements (BPI)⁵ commissioned a report on behalf of the District Attorney’s office to investigate the condition of asbestos in state buildings. The report surveyed 14.5 million square feet of building space and concluded that the clean-up would cost the state an estimated $101,600,000.⁶ In the following years emerged a nascent effort to tackle this colossal task. Between three publicly approved bond issues in 1986⁷, 1987⁸, and 1989⁹, the state allocated a total of $24,000,000 dollars to the identification and correction of asbestos problems in state facilities and public schools. The acts provided that the bonds would be used primarily to conduct surveys of individual buildings and to allocate funds to abatement and training projects on an as-needed basis.

No statewide asbestos correction program was ever implemented. Moreover, these bond issues indicated a public- and state-willed priority, consistent with the then- recent 1986 passage of the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA),¹⁰ to maintain public school facilities first and foremost among state buildings.¹¹ Undoubtedly the vast majority of the asbestos identified in the 1985 BPI report still remains, and especially so in state buildings which did not have the good fortune of supervision pursuant to AHERA¹². What’s more, many of the buildings which were inspected in 1985 are now — 35 years years later — in frequent need of renovation; and the asbestos containing materials which were employed in their construction are now in more friable conditions, posing higher risk to anybody who encounters them.

⁵ BPI was reestablished as the Bureau of General Services (BGS) in 1991 and again as the Bureau of Real Estate Management (BREM) and the Bureau of Business Management (BBM) in 2017.
⁶ Datz, Bob. Kennebec Journal, “101.6M cleanup estimate surfaces from 1985 report“, April, 1986. This estimate was broken down into abatement cost in excess of $70,000,000, and relocation cost in excess of
$30,000,000.
⁷ The question asked: "Do you favor a $6,000,000 bond issue to provide funds to identify and correct asbestos problems in state facilities?" Bangor Daily News, "State of Maine General Election November 4, 1986: Important Notice to All Voters of the State of Maine," October 28, 1986; Laws of the State of Maine as Passed by the One Hundred and Twelfth Legislature, "Private and Special Laws, Chapter 140"
⁸ Bangor Daily News, "State of Maine Special Election November 3, 1987: Important Notice to All Voters of the State of Maine," October 27, 1987; Laws of the State of Maine as Passed by the One Hundred and Thirteenth Legislature, "Private and Special Laws, Chapter 71"
⁹ Bangor Daily News, "State of Maine Special Election November 7, 1989: Important Notice to All Voters of the State of Maine," October 31, 1989; Laws of the State of Maine as Passed by the One Hundred and Fourteenth Legislature, "Private and Special Laws, Chapter 69”
¹⁰ EPA 40 C.F.R. 763 This act compelled educational agencies to inspect public schools buildings for asbestos-containing materials and to take necessary actions to reduce risk. See TSCA Subchapter II: Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response (15 U.S.C. § 2641-2656)
¹¹ In 1987 there were two bond issues in competition. The question “Do you favor a $8,000,000 bond issue for capital repairs and improvements to state facilities and the removal of asbestos from state facilities?” lost the vote while the question “Do you favor a $6,000,000 bond issue for detection and removal of asbestos hazards in state facilities and public schools?” passed. In 1989, the $12,000,000 bond allocated $10,000,000 to public schools facilities and only $2,000,000 to the rest of state facilities.
¹² The later passage of ASHARA in 1992 did extend aspects of AHERA to public and commercial buildings, but not parts about compulsory inspection and abatement.