Official discusses health concerns

POTSDAM — Clifford R. Donaldson Jr., the north country representative for the state Department of Labor, stopped by the civic center Thursday to talk to village employees about their health concerns.

"I just wanted to be here so people knew that they have someone local to talk to," he said. "I cover an area from Ticonderoga to Port Leyden, but I knew I'd be coming through town and I thought I'd stop in."

Village employees have been rattled by the cancer deaths of two co-workers in the past month. Even though two tests have shown that the air quality in the building is safe, employees remain concerned about health issues in the complex.

"You have to be your own health care advocate. That's the most important thing," Mr. Donaldson said. "If something is bothering you because you work here and two people you know died, go talk to your doctor. Ask if there are symptoms you should be looking for."

The civic center's air has been tested three times since senior clerk Sharon M. LaDuke died in May at the age of 57 after being diagnosed with mesothelioma, a rare cancer associated with asbestos. A month later, tax collector Linda M. Powers, 59, died after a battle with ovarian cancer.

"To all of a sudden lose two colleagues is devastating. But life turns on a dime," Mr. Donaldson said. "The next step is to become well informed and to be very aggressive about your own health care. I would say that to anyone."

Asbestos insulation still surrounds some pipes in the building, and officials recently discovered it also is in the mastic adhering tiles to the courtroom ceiling.

The mere presence of asbestos in a building is not a health hazard, however. Two separate tests have shown that the civic center's air is safe. Another state representative who came to investigate a formal complaint on June 5 conducted a polarizing-light microscopy test, which found there were significantly lower levels of fibers in air samples than the exposure limit of 0.1 fiber per cubic centimeter.

The village paid Atlantic Testing Laboratories, Canton, to conduct air monitoring tests to look for asbestos in 15 locations throughout the civic center May 19. Those tests were returned with a "non-detection" level, which means there were no airborne asbestos fibers found in the air.

The results of a third set of air tests taken on June 24 have yet to be released.