Ask those who work in the 688-foot-high Tour Montparnasse skyscraper in France’s capital city how they like working in the tallest building in town and most will rave about the views and the modern facilities. But, lately, workers have become disgruntled, faced with what Paris authorities are calling a “significant number of exposures to asbestos dust” in recent months.

An article in The Local, France’s English newspaper, reports that the presence of the asbestos dust has been caused by ongoing work inside the massive tower aimed at removing asbestos-containing insulation. It seems, however, that contractors may not be taking the proper precautions to prevent asbestos exposure.

In all, since 2009, there have been 72 occasions during which the concentration of asbestos fibers in the air exceeded the allowable limit. Those events have recently become so regular that many companies were forced to evacuate their workers this summer. Some, like Amundi, a subsidiary of the banks Crédit Agricole and Société Général, have chosen not to return to their offices on the 59^th floor, fearing that the health of their workers is in jeopardy. Authorities in Paris have even threatened to empty the entire tower of its 5,000+ workers until the situation is resolved.

It was first revealed that Tour Montparnasse contained asbestos materials in 2005, an issue that made front page headlines. After the revelation, the building’s owners were ordered to remove the carcinogenic material, which can cause mesothelioma cancer, and replace it with something safer. The work began in 2007 and isn’t expected to be completed until 2017. Contractors have had difficulty removing the material from certain hard-to-reach locations, including the fire escapes, and working while the building is occupied has caused further delays.

Asbestos was banned in France in 1997. Tour Montparnasse was built in the early 1970s, around the same time New York’s World Trade Center was constructed, an era when asbestos use was still commonplace.

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