School board provides details of asbestos management plan at renaissance middle school

The Montclair school board has released details of how it plans to deal with after the incident at Renaissance Middle School. The plan includes the implementation of an asbestos-management plan, which is required by the Environmental Protection Agency’s Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act. All schools with asbestos are required by the EPA to have such a plan. The management plan will contain details about the presence and condition of asbestos at the school, and the steps taken to manage it and prevent exposure risks. In addition, Schools Superintendent Frank Alvarez says that any and all future construction work at the school will only be carried out after parents have been notified. As well, activities which might potentially disturb asbestos, such as hanging pictures, will only be done after consulting the district’s director of buildings and grounds. This last issue is important because even minor disturbances of asbestos-containing materials can release asbestos fibers into the air, where they may be inhaled. Finally, Alvarez says the school’s principal and custodians will undergo a training program to receive education on the asbestos management plan and other important details. Meanwhile, the Renaissance Health and Wellness Committee and an independent group of parents known as the Concerned Parents at Renaissance (CPR) spoke at a recent town meeting and requested that the council fund an investigation into recent asbestos-related incidents at the Renaissance Middle School in Montclair, New Jersey. Jodi Godfrey, a Renaissance Health & Wellness committee member, says the investigation was suggested by “several Renaissance parents who are attorneys” who believe that “the facts must be gathered by an independent source while still available so that if health issues arise some 10-20 years from now, the information will be available to any person [or] family who needs it.” The Health and Wellness Committee and the CPR together requested that the council fund an independent task force to investigate the asbestos exposure incidents at the school. The council agreed to set aside $10,000 for the investigation. The school’s problems began on Friday May 16, when more than two hundred students and employees were evacuated after asbestos was discovered in the plaster of a newly-installed set of fire doors. A recent inspection had found asbestos which was judged to be safe. However, on Thursday May 15, it was discovered that the asbestos-containing plaster may have been disturbed during the after-hours installation of a set of fire doors. A local asbestos consultancy firm found that one of four samples collected showed a high level of asbestos fibers. (Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News)