Asbestos contamination and the potential of exposure prompted the evacuation and closure of the Downtown Fleet Services operation in Wisconsin’s capital city of Madison yesterday.

According to a Wisconsin State Journal article, construction that occurred Monday afternoon at the 26,000 square-foot facility that houses city vehicles may have released dangerous asbestos fibers. Tuesday morning, about two dozen employees were sent home, a city official reported.

The closure halted all repair work inside the city’s maintenance shop but fueling operations outside the facility continued, the article reports. Officials hoped that employees would be able to return to work on Wednesday or Thursday.

“Safety is the number one priority,” said George Twigg, spokesman for Mayor Dave Cieslewicz. “We sent all employees home indefinitely until testing can be conducted and we can get the results of those tests.”

The potential asbestos contamination occurred during work to reroute roof drains to a sanitary sewer. During that time, a subcontractor removed insulation around the pipes, said Fleet Services Superintendent William Vandenbrook. The insulation contained asbestos.

“Somebody did something they shouldn’t have, and we’re dealing with the fallout,” he said. “You send that many people home and there’s a fair amount of (vehicle) maintenance that’s deferred.”

The city is exploring liabilities, Vandenbrook told the media.

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