Asbestos closes down Cary village hall bathroom

A bathroom at Cary's village hall remained closed Wednesday after workers discovered asbestos in the flooring, an official said.

Workers on Tuesday morning found the hazardous substance in the bathroom while repairing the floor's tiling, Assistant Administrator Blaine Wing said.

The asbestos was underneath the floor within resin glued to tiles.

"It wasn't even visible until they started to do the repair," Wing said. "It's kind of like a layered cake."

This particular bathroom is situated in the part of village hall that houses the police department, Wing said.

Police officers primarily use this main-floor bathroom.

It will remain out of order until workers remove the asbestos Friday, Wing said.

"We just took the appropriate precautions," Wing said. "We realized with our building being so old it wasn't as simple as gluing the tile back to the floor."

This isn't the building's first brush with the substance that's linked to cancer.

Five years ago, the village hired an asbestos abatement team to remove all known traces of the substance in the 100-year-old building that was formerly a farmhouse, Wing said.

But the team missed it because it was hidden under the floor, Wing said.