DA probes potential asbestos violation at now-destroyed Dick Bruhn building.

For about a month, the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office has been investigating possible illegal removal and dumping of asbestos from the now-destroyed Dick Bruhn building in Oldtown Salinas.

The Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District inspectors brought their concerns to the D.A. Environmental Protection Unit on Jan. 27. A 10-alarm fire destroyed everything but the building’s brick facade on Saturday.

"They brought in reports to us and we've been sorting through them," District Attorney Dean Flippo says. "And then, the fire [happened].”

Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral, but when burned it can pose a significant health hazard and has the ability to linger in the air even after a fire has been extinguished. The material is also known as a carcinogen.

“There is asbestos on site, we know this, and with what happened this weekend it’s been…liberated,” says Richard Stedman, the Monterey Bay Air Resources Control District’s air pollution control officer. By liberated, Stedman adds, he means the fire released it into the air.

Flippo is not sure if Gerry Kehoe, the owner of the building, is aware he's under investigation. In an email, Kehoe denied asbestos was present in the building and cited two reports he commissioned last year. Stedman says the district found a single report had taken place and deemed it inadequate.

“Now with the fire, we would be prepared to use our investigators to assist trained investigators,” Flippo says. “Nothing of a criminal nature, like arson, has been brought to us. We are at the beginning stage.”

In the email, Kehoe writes, “Perhaps [the Weekly] might emphasize the positive efforts of Grabe Engineers, the city manager, the Fire Department, the City Permitting Department and all good citizens of the Salinas community to save and enhance this great heritage property and look deeper at the cause of the fire (whether it is a lack of provision of shelter for the homeless and God bless the homeless) or whether there is an arsonist in our midst or whether somehow an accident occurred.

“The city of Salinas could well do with some good news,” the email continues. “My family has lost much in this tragic event but our faith in this building and in Salinas remains intact.”

The city red-tagged the Bruhn building in February 2015 after illegal construction work at the site was reported by the Weekly.