San Jose Construction Site Shut Down Over Elevated Asbestos Levels

SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) -- The sprawling KB Home development on Communications Hill in San Jose was brought to a standstill two and a half weeks ago after the city of San Jose's air quality monitors caught unacceptable levels of asbestos in the air around the construction zone and neighborhoods.

"The asbestos is in the ground, it's everywhere in California. It's not supposed to be in the air," said Manuel Martinez who has lived on the hill for two years. "And when KB disturbs that and doesn't do what they are supposed to do, they are letting us down."

City officials said the readings were above the Bay Area Air Quality Management District's threshold of .016 structures, which is a measurement of a unit of air.

"Some of the readings were above the air district guidelines for airborne asbestos," said Matt Loesch, of the San Jose Public Works department. "So within a few days we thought it best to shut down the jobsite so we can perform some dirt mitigation."

On Monday, the only activity came from a few workers who were spraying down the dirt by hand or driving water tanker trucks. In some places, workers laid down tarps to cover the dirt keep it from blowing.

And how long will the shutdown stay in place?

"Until the city is satisfied that we have a safe environment for the workers and for the residents nearby," said Mr. Loesch.

KB Home sent KPIX a statement:

"At KB Home, the health and safety of our homeowners is a high priority. We alerted our customers in their disclosures that naturally occurring asbestos is common around San Jose and underlies a significant portion of Communications Hill. KB Home has a robust mitigation plan in place and has retained Ramboll, well-known and highly regarded Bay Area- based scientists, who reviewed air quality data and are helping to ensure a safe and healthy environment.  Ramboll's comprehensive analysis and review has determined that exposures associated with the construction activity at Communications Hill are within United States Environmental Protection Agency's acceptable range for the protection of human health, which is also used by California state and local air-quality agencies. We look forward to the City of San Jose completing its review of Ramboll's report." 

But neighbors are concerned, that they haven't been given straight answers and that mitigation efforts only just began.

"They weren't spraying things down until today.  They were spraying down the homes, the streets and spraying down the sidewalks, but that didn't happen until today," said neighbor James Schwab.