This is Floyd Wynne with THE VIEW FROM HERE 5/10/05

It certainly seems strange.
I’m referring to the asbestos problem that has threatened a number of homes on the old Marine Hospital campus.
The campus, created during World War Two times, was a marine rehabilitation campus, complete with all the amenities including such things as a basketball court, an olympic sized swimming pool and of course a number of barracks and other buildings.
When the government ceased to use the area, it was purchased for a dollar or so and became the home of the Oregon Vocational School.
Many of the buildings continued to be used. Later it became the home of OIT, the Oregon Institute of Technology.
When that institution was moved down the hill to a new campus on the edge of Klamath Falls the old campus site remained empty for a few years and then later, when purchased by a private group, became the area for a group of new homes.
So..why all the problems of asbestos?
First of all most of the structures contained asbestos as an insulation....needed certainly in the winter in that high a location.
I don’t know how many thousands of people used these facilities over the years, but apparently none suffered from the asbestos threat.
As a matter of fact asbestos had been used throughout past history as one of the best fire protections as well as insulation materials available.
As we understand it when the buildings were demolished on the old mile high campus, apparently the asbestos dust wound up in the dirt, and is now the subject of all the controversy.
A number of years ago the Environmental Protection Agency came out with the claim that the particles from the asbestos could cause cancer if inhaled in sufficient quantities. While no one has come forth with a formula of what sufficient quantities are....the cancer fear has made asbestos a threat wherever it is found.
Now....those who built homes in the area are being threatened by the asbestos claim.
It, in my opinion, is only fair that the same organization, the EPA has agreed to move the residents for a period so that the asbestos threat can be more clearly determined.
After all it was the government in the first place that utilized the asbestos in their construction of the campus.
It doesn’t seem to us that the company that developed the old campus site should be blamed for the situation. They purchased a site from the government that had the asbestos threat already there, if it does prove to be a threat.
My feeling is that if there is any blame then it should be on the government for selling a questionable piece of property.
In the meantime it would be interesting to know just what constitutes “if breathed consistently over a longer period of time.”
Obviously there is still a lot of asbestos around in homes around the nation and in other structures. We note that each time some is found there has to be special precautions taken to dispose of it.
We certainly hope that it is found, in the long run, that the situation is not life threatening and that the homes can be saved.

This is Floyd Wynne and that’s THE VIEW FROM HERE.