CHEYENNE -- Asbestos contamination from two buildings removed from the University of Wyoming campus didn't appear to present a health risk for anyone but could have been avoided, a consultant for the university wrote in a report.

Kenneth White, with IHI Environmental in Salt Lake City, evaluated the potential health risks from asbestos contained in fragments of old pipe insulation that remained on the ground after the buildings were removed.

The area near the Bureau of Mines Building remained blocked off to the public between the buildings' removal in March or April and the discovery of the asbestos in June, White wrote in his report, dated Nov. 11.

There is no evidence that anyone entered the blocked-off area, and people outside the area would have come no closer than 15 feet to the asbestos, he wrote. Furthermore, no vehicles stirred up the material.

And the period the asbestos was on the ground -- as long as 99 days -- was snowy and rainy. The wet weather could have helped prevent it from becoming airborne, he suggested.

"Wetting of asbestos material is known to greatly reduce fiber release, and wet removal is a requirement and standard practice in asbestos abatement," White wrote.

Measurable exposures to asbestos were "very unlikely," the report said. Even if exposure did occur, it would have been at too low of a level to cause any asbestos-related disease, White wrote.

But White's report said the buyer of the buildings apparently didn't take the right steps to identify and dispose of the asbestos. Documents obtained from the University of Wyoming through a records request show that Laramie attorney Mason Skiles bought the metal buildings for $368.

In a sale document, Skiles agreed to clean up any debris associated with removing the buildings.

"The third-party purchaser apparently did not take steps to determine that the material was (asbestos-containing material) and did not follow legal requirements that would have assured the proper removal and disposal of these materials," White wrote.

University officials said previously and repeated Tuesday that Skiles is at fault, not them. Skiles didn't return a phone message seeking comment.

Documents show the university had the contamination cleaned up within a few days of its discovery.