BUTLER TWP — United Way of Butler County workers and their visitors will no longer be seeing pink.

The United Way's office, which is in the former commander's house on the grounds of the Butler Veterans Affairs Medical Center, is the last building to lose the Pepto Bismal pink paint that once defined the entire campus.

The paint removal process should take about two weeks, which the United Way staff is spending at the Butler County Community College.

The paint, which includes asbestos, a material that was commonly used in construction for decades until it was found to cause lung cancer, is being removed by a federally contracted company.

The process, that includes spraying the building with a chemical remover, letting the remover dry or "bake" into the layers of paint and then removing the paint with a power washer, should take about two weeks, if the weather remains clear, said Leslie Osche, United Way's executive director.

"(Wednesday's) rain probably slowed down the workers," she said.

The United Way has moved out of the house during the paint removal because there is a potential for workers and visitors to be exposed to loose asbestos particles during the process.

"We weren't allowed to turn on the window air conditioners, and its about 120 degrees in that place. Luckily, BC3 generously offered us a home until we can go back," Osche said.

Paula McCarl, a Butler Medical Center's spokeswoman, said the VA buildings were painted in the 1960s and pink was just the color that was offered by the government at that time.

Sometime in the 1990s, she said, the VA decided to remove the pink paint for both health and aesthetic reasons.

For about two weeks, the United Way of Butler County will be housed at the Butler County Community College in Butler Township while asbestos-based paint is removed from the United Way office on the Butler Veterans Affairs Medical Center's campus.To contact the United Way during this time, call 724-712-3964 or e-mail butler.unitedway@zoominternet.net.