Vermont state workers evacuated over air quality concerns

ST. JOHNSBURY, Vt. - Dozens of state employees were evacuated from an office building in St. Johnsbury over air quality concerns.

State officials say the building's owner was considering putting the property on the market. This issue surfaced after he hired an environmental consultant to assess the building since there used to be a dry cleaner located there.

Vermont has leased the building on Eastern Avenue for about three decades and 85 employees with human services currently work there. Now, the state is concerned after testing revealed elevated levels of three different contaminants in the airspace of the building's foundation.

We checked with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Long-term exposure to PCE, TCE and chloroform have been linked to higher rates of cancer, pregnancy complications, memory loss and kidney and liver damage. The state says they won't know exposure risks for those employees working in the office space until air tests come back on Tuesday.

Read more: http://www.wcax.com/story/35040878/vt-state-workers-evacuated-over-air-quality-concerns