Recent headlines involving Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, have brought a familiar but often-overlooked public health issue to the forefront: the danger of legacy asbestos in older buildings.

A lawsuit filed by two former maintenance workers alleges they were exposed to asbestos while renovating a school building on the church campus and were subsequently fired after raising safety concerns.

These allegations serve as a critical case study, highlighting the widespread problem of asbestos in public and private buildings, the legal responsibilities of property owners, and the non-negotiable importance of professional asbestos abatement.

According to reports from Julie Roys and Church Leaders, the lawsuit claims the two workers were instructed to remove old carpeting and ceiling tiles in a building used as a school. The complaint alleges that the church was aware of the potential for asbestos in these materials but failed to provide the workers with proper personal protective equipment (PPE) or take necessary safety precautions.

The lawsuit further alleges that when the workers hired their own inspector, who confirmed the presence of asbestos, they were terminated. These allegations, whether ultimately proven true, underscore the exact scenarios that safety regulations are designed to prevent.

The Silent Threat of Legacy Asbestos

The core of the issue lies in “legacy asbestos,” a term for asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) installed in buildings decades ago. Before its severe health risks were widely understood and regulated in the mid-1980s, asbestos was a construction superstar. Prized for its durability, fire resistance, and insulating properties, it was mixed into thousands of products.

Today, countless older buildings contain asbestos in materials such as:

Ceiling and floor tiles
Pipe and duct insulation
Adhesives and mastics (like carpet glue)
Roofing shingles and siding
Textured paints and patching compounds

Why is Asbestos So Dangerous to Our Health?

The danger of asbestos lies in its unique physical properties. It is composed of microscopic, odorless, and tasteless fibers. When ACMs are in good condition and left undisturbed—a state known as non-friable—they generally pose a minimal risk. However, the danger arises when these materials are damaged, disturbed, or deteriorate over time. Activities like drilling, sanding, sawing, or, as alleged in the Grace Church case, tearing up old carpets and tiles, can release these tiny, lightweight fibers into the air. Once airborne, they can be easily inhaled and remain suspended for hours.

Asbestos Has No Smell or Taste; You May Not Know You’re Breathing It

When these fibers are inhaled, they can become permanently lodged in the lungs and surrounding tissues. The body has no effective way to remove them, and over decades, their presence can cause severe inflammation and scarring, leading to devastating diseases like asbestosis (a chronic, fibrotic lung condition), lung cancer, and mesothelioma, an aggressive and incurable cancer of the organ linings.

Public Buildings: A Widespread Concern

The problem of legacy asbestos is particularly acute in public and semi-public buildings like schools, churches, libraries, and government offices built before the mid-1980s. These are places where large numbers of people, including vulnerable populations like children and the elderly, congregate. Children are especially susceptible to the long-term effects of asbestos exposure due to their higher respiratory rates and the long latency period of asbestos-related diseases, which can take 20 to 50 years to develop.

Property owners and managers have a significant legal and ethical duty of care to provide a safe environment for employees, tenants, and visitors. This includes identifying and managing any known ACMs on their properties. Federal regulations, overseen by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), establish strict rules for handling asbestos. Before any renovation or demolition project that could disturb suspected ACMs, property owners are generally required to have the area inspected by a licensed professional. If asbestos is found, they must notify workers and occupants and ensure that all handling and removal are performed according to stringent safety protocols.

Failure to do so not only violates the law but also places lives at risk. The core of many asbestos-related lawsuits is the claim that a property owner or employer knew, or should have known, about the hazard but failed to warn or protect those who could be exposed.

The Critical Importance of Proper Abatement

The complexity and danger of asbestos mean that its removal, known as abatement, is not a do-it-yourself project. Attempting to remove asbestos without proper training and equipment is profoundly dangerous and can make a contained problem significantly worse by spreading contamination throughout a building.

Professional, licensed asbestos remediation specialists are essential for any removal project. Their process is meticulous and designed to protect both the workers and the building’s occupants. Proper abatement involves:

Containment: The work area is completely sealed off with heavy plastic sheeting and equipped with negative air pressure systems to ensure that no fibers escape into surrounding areas.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): Workers wear full-body disposable coveralls, gloves, and, most importantly, high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter respirators to prevent inhalation of fibers.
Safe Removal Techniques: Specialists use methods like wetting down asbestos-containing materials to minimize dust and employing special tools to carefully remove the materials without breaking them apart.
Decontamination: A multi-stage decontamination unit is set up for workers to safely remove their contaminated gear before leaving the containment zone.
Proper Disposal: All asbestos waste is sealed in specially marked, leak-proof bags and transported to landfills licensed to handle hazardous materials.
Air Monitoring: Air samples are often taken before, during, and after the project to ensure the area is safe for re-occupancy.

The situation alleged at Grace Community Church, if true, represents a stark contrast to these required safety measures. It serves as a potent reminder that cutting corners on asbestos handling can have devastating, long-term consequences. Regardless of the outcome of this specific lawsuit, it reinforces a crucial lesson for all owners and managers of older buildings: the risk of legacy asbestos is real, the responsibility to protect people is clear, and the only safe solution is to engage trained professionals.