On September 1, the New Mexico Environment Department’s Occupational Health and Safety Bureau (OHSB) announced it has cited the City of Albuquerque and Consolidated Builders of NM, LLC for workplace safety issues related to asbestos exposures at the Women’s Shelter within the Gateway Center homeless shelter. Consolidated Builders of NM, LLC is the private company contracted by the city to do the remodeling of the Gibson medical center for the Gateway Homeless shelter.
The OHSB investigation found that the City of Albuquerque and Consolidated Builders violated the New Mexico Occupational Health and Safety Act by demonstrating indifference for the safety and health of employees and exposed employees to asbestos between April 11, 2022 and March 9, 2023. One of the most damning finding made by OSHA was that city staff raised safety concerns multiple times but the Gateway remodeling project was politically driven with stop orders from the City’s Risk Management Division totally ignored to allow work to continue on the project.
The city was issued a $761,112 fine for five Willful-Serious citations and two Serious citations. Consolidated Builders was issued a $331,475 fine for eight Willful-Serious citations and one Serious citation. The fine levied against the City of Albuquerque is the largest fine ever filed against the city by OHSB.
It was on March 7, 2023, the New Mexico Environment Department’s Occupational Health & Safety Bureau (OHSB) received reports of possible employee exposure to asbestos at the City of Albuquerque’s Gateway Center.
On March 9, 2023, OHSB opened an investigation into the allegation as required by the Occupational Health and Safety Act and its corresponding regulations. The Act and regulations also require OHSB to issue citations for violations and complete an inspection report summarizing the findings of an investigation within six months of an incident.
Prior to OHSB issuing the citations, the Keller Administration acknowledged responsibility for mistakes and notified individuals they identified, including city leaders, who had visited the Gateway Women’s Shelter construction area within the Gibson Health Hub between April 11, 2022 and March 9, 2023 and were told of their potential exposure to asbestos. Individuals who believed they were exposed were told to contact their medical provider and ask for guidance.
CITATIONS AND FINES
The city was issued a $761,112 fine for five Willful-Serious citations and two Serious citations. Consolidated Builders was issued a $331,475 fine for 8 Willful-Serious citations and 1 Serious citation.
The “willful-serious citations” to the City of Albuquerque include:
- Failing to conduct asbestos work within a regulated area;
- Failing to ensure that an exposure assessment was conducted at the beginning of the project before potential exposures could occur;
- Failing to ensure that an asbestos “competent person” was present to supervise certain types of work;
- Failing to determine the presence, location, and quantity of asbestos-containing material at the Gateway Women’s Shelter prior to work beginning; and
- Failing to ensure that all waste material was properly contained and disposed of.
The “serious citations” to the City of Albuquerque include:
- Failing to communicate the hazards associated with exposure to respirable asbestos fibers to employees;
- Failing to designate a “competent person” with the qualifications and authorities to ensure worker safety.
The “willful-serious citations” to Consolidated Builders include:
- Failing to notify other employers that asbestos work was being conducted;
- Failing to conduct asbestos work within a regulated area;
- Failing to ensure that an exposure assessment was conducted at the beginning of the project;
- Failing to dispose of asbestos materials in a leak-tight container;
- Failing to use wet methods to clean up asbestos-containing materials;
- Failing to communicate the hazards associated with exposure to respirable asbestos fibers to employees;
- Failing to train employees on properly performing asbestos removal;
- Failing to protect employees from the release of asbestos when removing floor tiles.
The “serious citation” to the Consolidated Builders include:
- Failing to implement a respiratory protection program for employees using respirators.
The inspection citations and reports can be viewed here.
PURCHASE AND REMODELING FOR 24-7 HOMELESS SHELTER
It was on Tuesday, April 6, 2021, that Mayor Tim Keller held a press conference in front of the Gibson Medical Center, formerly the Lovelace Hospital, to officially announce the city had bought the massive 572,000 square-foot complex for $15 million in order to convert it into a 24-7 homeless shelter to assist an estimated 1,000 homeless residents and connect them to other services intended to help secure permanent housing. The complex has a 201-patient bed capacity and includes large lobby common areas, administrative offices and physician offices, treatment rooms, emergency admittance areas and operating areas and a large 350 capacity auditorium. The facility once remodeling is completed is intended to serve all populations of men, women, and families. Further, the city wants to provide a place anyone could go regardless of gender, religious affiliation, sobriety, addictions, psychotic condition or other factors.
Since the April 6, 2021 purchase of the Gibson Medical Center for conversion to the Gateway homeless shelter, completion of the project has experienced delay, after delay after delay. The delays have included neighborhood protests, a civil lawsuit and zoning battle and asbestos discovery requiring remediation. The first phases of the Gateway Center, including 50 beds for women, were recently completed. Construction costs for phase one was $7 million.
In March of this year asbestos was discovered in the construction zone. A month later, an inspection from the city Planning Department’s Building Safety Division found that asbestos removal protocols had not been correctly followed during construction of the overnight beds area.
In April, the city announced that the area had been abated, after sealing off the 4,000-square-foot area on March 9 following positive asbestos testing results. The area makes up about 20% of the full area that was remodeled.
CITY ADMITS VIOLATIONS, DISCIPLINARY ACTION TAKEN
Under requirements of the New Mexico Occupational Health and Safety Act, the City of Albuquerque and Consolidated Builders have 15 business days after receiving the citation to either pay the penalty and provide OHSB with certification of corrective action, or to contest the citation with the Occupational Health and Safety Review Commission.
On September 1, the Keller Administration sent out a news release concerning the citations. In the statement, the city admits they did not follow the law in removing the asbestos. Albuquerque’s General Services Director John Craig said this in the news release:
“We know that removal procedures were not correctly followed for a small section of the project, and we have corrected these issues on all other sections and are ensuring ongoing construction is in compliance.”
According to the news release, the city attorney is currently evaluating the citations. The news release did not say whether the city would dispute the fine, just that city attorneys were looking over the citations.
The city’s project manager received disciplinary action and managers were given more training.
The links to quoted news sources are here:
OHSB Investigation of City of Albuquerque Gateway Center at the Gibson Health Hub
https://www.koat.com/article/city-of-albuquerque-fined-for-exposing-workers-to-asbestos/44978130
KRQE NEWS 13 INVESTIGATION REPORT REVISITED
It was on April 25, 2023 that KRQE News 13 Investigation Reporter Larry Barker reported on the Keller Administration’s discovery of asbestos at the new Gateway renovation construction site. Barker reported how high-ranking city officials and project staff violated safety regulations jeopardizing the health and safety of employees because the city did no testing prior to demolition work.
Contractors doing work on the Gateway Center’s second floor used a mechanical scraper to rip out old tile flooring containing asbestos. The debris was swept up with brooms and thrown in the trash. Workers were not wearing Personal Protections Equipment (PPE) and all this was done while the HVAC system was still running, possibly transporting the dust through the building where people could have easily breathed in the toxic lung cancer causing materials.
The Chief of New Mexico’s Occupational Health and Safety Bureau Bob Genoway said he was stunned the city did this. Genoway said this:
“To willfully violate an OSHA standard is, is you know, it’s almost it’s almost hard to understand why somebody would do that. You know, we may not get to the answer of why that was done.”
PROJECT POLITICALLY DRIVEN
Barker also reported on the coverup of the cleanup efforts resulting in delays of completion of the Gateway Homeless Shelter. The most damning finding made by OSHA was that city staff had raised safety concerns multiple times but the Gateway remodeling project is politically driven with stop orders from the City’s Risk Management Division ignored.
Following is the report edited and rearranged for brevity:
Internal city documents obtained by KRQE News 13 show how Albuquerque officials involved with the Gateway renovation blatantly violated federal health and Safety regulations putting lives at risk. …
Breathing asbestos fibers can be deadly, so only specially trained and certified work crews are allowed to operate in asbestos remediation areas. Full body suits, respirators, gloves, and boots are required. Asbestos debris must be bagged and disposed of in a hazardous waste repository.
According to a city timeline, last year contractors doing renovation work on the Gateway Center’s second floor used a large mechanical scraper to rip out and shred old tile flooring containing asbestos. The debris was swept up with brooms and thrown in the trash. There were no worker safeguards, no notifications, no protective gear, no respirators, and no regard for the law.
An internal city document noted:
“There was no pause on the construction site with the reasoning that Risk (Management) does not have jurisdiction to shut down construction sites.”
Renovation construction was halted only briefly and then resumed.
On March 9, 2023, test results confirmed the presence of asbestos in the 2nd-floor work area. OHSB Investigators directed the city to halt all work in the asbestos area.
OHSB Safety Compliance Officer Lorenzo Montoya said this:
“It is imperative that a regulated area be established immediately. The area must be secured from unauthorized persons and demarcated immediately.”
The Occupational Health and Safety Bureau (OHSB) initiated an investigation [and it found as follows] :
“Staff have raised safety concerns multiple times but the project is politically driven and two work stop orders from the City’s Risk Management Division have been ignored. …
No inspection or testing was done prior to demolition work. Workers are not wearing PPE and are scraping, and grinding. The HVAC system is still running and may have transported dust through the building.
On February 28, 2023, Albuquerque’s Risk Management Division informed Gateway Project Manager Jesse Valdez that “There is high possibility that there is asbestos in the areas of the Gibson Health Hub that are under construction. All work in these areas must cease until an asbestos test has been performed.”
New Mexico’s Occupational Health and Safety Bureau Chief Bob Genoway said this:
“We consider (these) to be serious allegations that warranted an OSHA investigation. … Bottom line is we’re trying to make sure that employees don’t become seriously ill or injured from hazards in the workplace. Asbestos is a recognized, serious hazard in the workplace and can cause serious diseases.”
… .”
Links to quoted news sources are here:
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
Since the April 6, 2021 purchase of the Gibson Medical Center for conversion to the Gateway homeless shelter, completion of the project has experienced delay, after delay, after delay. The plague of delays has included neighborhood protests, a civil lawsuit and zoning battle and asbestos discovery requiring remediation. There is little to no doubt that all the delays in completing the Gateway 24-7 homeless shelter fall squarely on the shoulders of Mayor Tim Keller because of his personal involvenent and the way he and his administration have handled the project.
The City of Albuquerque and the remodeling contractor being fined over $1 Million for asbestos exposure at the gateway Center Homeless Shelter and the Keller Administration’s intentional conduct is yet another sign of ineptness and incompetency by Mayor Tim Keller and his administration.
There are 3 specific areas of incompetency and ineptness that can be identified with the Gateway Homeless shelter that fall squarely on the shoulders of Mayor Tim Keller :
The first was the actual selection and purchase of the massive 572,000 square-foot Gibson Medical Center complex, formerly the Lovelace Hospital for $15 million in order to convert it into a 24-7 homeless shelter. The massive complex purchased has a 201-bed capacity, numerous physician offices, treatment and operating rooms, administration offices, a large lobby area as well as 250-to-300-person auditorium.
The city implemented a site selection process that originally identified 3 appropriate sites. On February 27, 2020 the City of Albuquerque released a report and analysis announcing the top 3 preferred locations. The 3 locations were:
- University of New Mexico (UNM) land next to the state laboratory, near Interstate 25 and Camino de Salud
- Coronado Park at 3rd Street and Interstate 40
- The former Lovelace hospital on Gibson
The UNM property was Keller’s first preferred choice and Keller took it upon himself to do a press conference to promote his selection and pressure the UNM regents to allow it. When UNM balked at the idea, Keller quickly move to purchase the Gibson Medical Center.
Keller failed to even try to get input from the surrounding neighborhoods. Keller did not even attempt to reach a consensus with neighborhood associations and major protests occurred. Neighborhood protests erupted over Keller’s selection of the medical center. Mayor Tim Keller mishandled the site selection process for the shelter, especially with his shaming, guilt trip press conference to force UNM regent’s hand, and his failing to build true consensus on what the city should do and where the shelter should go.
The second sign of ineptness and incompetence by Mayor Tim Keller that contributed to the delays is that Mayor Keller and his administration ostensibly did not know and did not do due diligence to determine if the Gibson Medical facility had the proper zoning to allow a 24-7 overnight shelter. The commercial property was purchased by the city “as is”. What Keller and company found out only after the purchase was that the facility and the area was zoned for a hospital and that a conditional use for a 24-7 overnight shelter was required under the city’s zoning laws known as the Integrated Development Ordinance (IDO). Rather than taking steps to rely on the existing zoning as a hospital and use the facility as a mental health treatment and substance abuse hospital facility for the homeless, the building sat vacant as to city usage and the city is still scrambling to the get the shelter fully operational up and and running.
The third sign of ineptness and incompetence by Mayor Tim Keller was the discovery of asbestos on the property that required remediation. It is difficult to understand how the City Planning Department, the Municipal Development Department or the Environmental Health Department did not realize that in the 1950s, when the original Lovelace Hospital was built, asbestos was commonly used in building materials like insulation, ceiling tiles, and flooring. What is very disturbing is that the Occupational Health and Safety Bureau (OHSB) initiated an investigation after receiving complaints that allege “No inspection or testing was done prior to demolition work” and the city covered it up. The most obvious explanation for city departments failing to act is that the Gateway Homeless shelter is one of Mayor Keller’s legacy projects and he likely exerted great pressure on his department heads to get the project done and be damned OSHA requirements, hence the finding that the project was politically driven.
FINAL COMMENTARY
On April 21, the city announced that the asbestos abatement had been completed. That may be true for the area 4,000 square foot area that was being remodeled for the new Gateway service area, but that area is a fraction of the massive 572,000 square-foot complex.
It is more likely than not that the rest of the 572,000 square-foot complex is riddle with asbestos. Any future remodeling will require asbestos remediation jacking up the costs by millions of dollars. In otherwards, Mayor Tim Keller had the city buy a money pit of endless expenditures needed for asbestos remediation.
This coming from a Mayor who was a State Auditor and who created his reputation as a white knight combating “waste, fraud and abuse” in government spending.