For decades, Toledo city workers kept the city running from a municipal garage full of asbestos, diesel exhaust and carbon monoxide. A 1995 study said they should have been moved within a year. They stayed 16 more.

The garage at 2411 Albion Street was home to Fleet Operations for decades. City and state records reviewed by WTOL 11 Investigates document the conditions inside: asbestos, diesel exhaust, carbon monoxide, deteriorating floors and a failing roof.

The 1995 study recommended relocating Fleet Operations from Albion within a year. The move didn’t happen until 2011 — 16 years later.

11 Investigates reviewed hundreds of pages of city and state records and interviewed former employees, family members, union representatives, public officials, and an occupational and environmental medicine specialist.

Former workers and families have questioned whether the conditions contributed to cancers and other illnesses. But the records do not establish that link — additional medical research would be needed, and this report does not claim the conditions caused those illnesses.

Read the full investigation at wtol.com. WTOL is asking former city workers to share their stories at 11investigates@wtol.com.

Image: Wikimedia Commons.