SPANISH FORK — Add asbestos to the list of hazardous elements found at a mobile-home park built atop the old county landfill.
"The test sample did come back positive," said Dave Johnson, director of the environmental health division of the Utah County Health Department.
However, Johnson said he didn't know specifically where or how much asbestos was found in the troubled south Utah County community, which is called the Spanish Fork Ranches.
Asbestos exposure has been linked to lung cancer.
"It's a piece in a puzzle," he said. "We're bound to find all kinds of things there."
Confirmation that the site contains asbestos comes a few months after samples of dirt, air and water were tested to determine if the area was safe for residential living.
Authorities have also confirmed that toxins are draining from the community built on top of an old, unregulated landfill. But drinking water has found to be clear.
The city, the state Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have also been testing the site.
A lawsuit has been filed against the developer, Ron Jones of St. George, for not capping the landfill correctly before building the mobile-home park.
The county health department next month will release all of its findings and recommendations for people living there.