PALMER -- A temporary worker at the Matanuska-Susitna Borough's central landfill said he and three others were exposed last winter to asbestos dust when a bulldozer ripped open bags holding the hazardous material.
"We're looking into the matter," said the borough's interim human resources manager, Marshall Watson.
"We're looking into the entire procedures at the landfill. We're going to interview employees who were there when the alleged exposure took place," he said.
Watson said the investigation began in the middle of last week, but he didn't know how long it would last.
He offered little information, saying the investigation is still in its infancy.
Ray Rossiter, the worker who complained of the incident, said it was only recently that the borough recognized the event took place.
Rossiter, 58, said in an injury report with the Department of Labor and Workforce Development that he and three others were exposed when the dozer he was driving to move rebar and concrete tore into bags holding the dust.
He contends that the dozer was in poor repair and allowed the dust to enter the cab.
"My lungs still burn," he said from his fifth-wheel trailer parked at Kepler-Bradley State Park.
He said he suffers from fatigue he blames on the exposure.
Greg Goodale, borough Solid Waste Division manager, said the kind of asbestos Rossiter was working with at the time is non-friable, or not likely to become airborne.
He also said there are specific procedures in place to handle the friable asbestos.
"Anything Ray was working with does not present a health threat," Goodale said.
Anchorage Daily News