Cincinnati apartment building owners recently tried to keep their asbestos removal under wraps, not informing their own tenants of the contamination and removal. The Hartwell apartment building started the removal of asbestos without any kind of warning to the tenants, leaving them confused and afraid. Hartwell apartments did not even evacuate the tenants during their risky asbestos removal project.

           Living in an apartment with asbestos in it carries the possibility of being infected, but living in a building currently undergoing asbestos removal makes the chance of inhaling or ingesting asbestos fibers skyrocket. Just minor exposure to these deadly fibers can cause a number of diseases including Mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer, laryngeal cancer, ovarian cancer, testes cancer, pleural plaque, and pleural thickening. All of these diseases are caused by inhaling, ingesting, or coming into contact with asbestos.

           Tenants were at risk for all these diseases as the Hartwell apartment building went through an asbestos removal process in the basement. Not only were tenants not told what was happening until the process had already begun, but the process itself was very sketchy and shoddily done. A sign stating that no one was allowed in the basement for 24 hours was put up, and the door was seemingly closed. However, according to tenant Jacquelyn Bines, the front and back doors to the basement were left open during this time.

           Tenant Bines also expressed her worry for others in the building, stating that, “We have a lot of children in this building- so I feel that it is something you should of informed everyone about.”

           As this is happening, the owners of the Hartwell apartment assert the apartment is still safe.