Bemis Library now open after meth contamination

Safe levels met

BY NINA JOSS NJOSS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

After being closed for almost ve weeks due to methamphetamine contamination, Bemis Public Library reopened on Feb 21.

“We got approval from Arapahoe County Public Health that the remediation that we did brought the levels below state standards and that the risk to the public health was very low,” city spokesperson Kelli Narde said.

Remediation

A contractor called Asbestos Professionals conducted remediation services in the library from Feb. 9 until Feb. 15, after testing found levels of meth contamination above the state threshold in four bathrooms’ vents and a mechanical equipment room connected to the library’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning system.

City o cials said the remediation process involved surface cleaning because the contamination was on HVAC system components and vents, e library is now open as sta waits for nal test results on previously contaminated areas to ensure completion, city senior media strategist David Gilbert wrote in an email

“If any areas are still above reportable levels, further remediation will be needed, but there’s no indication of that yet,” he wrote. e upstairs men’s and women’s restrooms and the downstairs private restroom will remain closed pending nal documentation of remediation completion, according to a city announcement. e other restrooms will be open. e city has received two invoices from the contractor for remediation, adding up to $31,563.25, Gilbert wrote. He said the city has not yet received a bill from the testing company, Zeal Environmental.

Going forward

In terms of preventative measures for future methamphetamine contamination, the library already has a video camera system that covers most parts of the library as well as a police o cer in the building 20 hours a week, Narde said.

Going forward, the city plans to enhance cleaning of bathroom services and increase security patrols around the restrooms.

“We’re not going to be able to monitor what goes on in a bathroom stall — it’s just impossible to do because of privacy, obviously,” Narde said. “ ey’re looking at getting some air-quality monitoring technology for those bathrooms, but that’s not in place yet.”

Although it’s impossible to completely prevent this situation from happening again, Narde said the city is going to do everything they can.

On the topic of prevention, some community members have ex- pressed concern that unhoused individuals are the cause of drug contamination in restrooms. Narde said it is impossible to know who is behind the behavior that caused the closure.

“I think it’s easy to point the nger at a person being homeless as the culprit, but there’s no way that we can prove that whoever did this was a homeless person,” she said. “And I think it’s naive to think that every homeless person smokes meth and it’s naive to think that only homeless people smoke meth.”

She said the city is grateful for the community’s patience and support as they worked to resolve the situation.

“We appreciate everyone’s patience as we went through this,” she said. “We know it was hard on a lot of people, including our sta , but I think it positions the library a little bit better for the future. We just thank everybody for their support and their patience while we got things cleaned up.”