The city’s ongoing headache brought on by asbestos issues at Albuquerque’s Gateway Center at Gibson Health Hub continued this week. Three new lawsuits were filed against the city in relation to its mishandling of the cancer-causing material during construction at the 572,000-square-foot center.
Located at 5400 Gibson Blvd. SE, the center offers overnight beds and a variety of services for the homeless population. The city bought the building in 2021. Asbestos mishandling that took place within a 4,000-square-foot construction zone starting in 2022 was first made public in the spring of 2023 and abated about a month later. The center opened in the summer of 2023 and has undergone additional phases of construction since.
KRQE News 13 investigative reporter Larry Barker first reported on the issue citing, among other documents, a report from the New Mexico Environmental Department’s Occupational Health and Safety Bureau that concluded employees at the center were exposed to asbestos between April 11, 2022, and March 9, 2023.
The lawsuit alleges that the city knew the asbestos risks and ignored them, putting people at risk.
The third lawsuit, according to the report, was filed on behalf of three city workers claiming whistleblower status who say they were retaliated against because they cooperated with investigators. The workers said they were intimidated, harassed, and threatened.
There are almost two dozen plaintiffs in the three most recent lawsuits against the city regarding the Gateway Center.
“We cannot comment specifically on pending litigation, but the City has acknowledged several times that asbestos concerns were identified early in the process and that while not all protocols were correctly followed, abatement was carried out to remove all asbestos containing materials,” city spokesperson Ava Montoya, said in a statement to City Desk ABQ. “The Gateway Center is now open and serving members of our community to get them on a path toward stable housing, and we are focused on continuing to build out the next phases of the facility so that we can continue to provide hope and healing to even more people.”
In addition, the state of New Mexico previously deemed that the city “willfully violated” federal safety regulations and it was fined more than $760,000. City officials are still in negotiations with the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) to determine how much the city will pay the state for the fine.