ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The City of Albuquerque is fighting citations from the state over its handling of asbestos at the Gateway Center.
A Larry Barker investigation in the spring revealed safety problems at the old Lovelace hospital on Gibson, which the city is renovating for the new Gateway Center for homeless services.
Earlier this month, the state’s OSHA bureau fined the city and its contractor three-quarters of a million dollars, saying they willfully ignored safety rules when workers came across asbestos.
Now, according to OSHA, the city is challenging those citations, which means there will be a review process.
On Monday, a city spokesperson sent a statement saying, “The City has acknowledged that some abatement procedures were not correctly followed, however we disagree with some of the findings and factual representations and the method in which the fines were calculated.”
However, they disagree with some of the findings and the way the fines were calculated.
