Federal epa gets involved in asbestos issues at montpelier school

Montpelier’s Main Street Middle School seems to be making every effort to solve its asbestos problems, with federal Environmental Protection Agency officials in the school to investigate the possible asbestos contamination which resulted in the school closing this week. The school was closed on July 28, and currently officials don’t know whether the school will be able to open in time for the beginning of the new school year, less than one month away. The district’s asbestos control officer Chris Crothers says the extent of the asbestos problems, and the measures required to solve them, may keep the school closed into the new academic year. Main Street Middle School was closed after a state Department of Health safety inspector found that workers at the school were using improper practices to remove floor tiles which contained asbestos. DOH asbestos and lead engineer Andrew Chevrefils noticed that workers were using methods which violate state regulations for removal of asbestos. Employees of the contracting company were chipping asbestos tiles off the floors to prepare for laying new tiles. The workers were not wearing face masks or using air-sampling pumps to monitor air quality while the asbestos was being removed. Classroom doors were left open, and there were no barriers around the work area to ensure that other workers were not able to enter. Chris Crothers says that based on the removal method and the lack of safety precautions, exposure was likely to have occurred, due to the probability of airborne asbestos particles being present. However, Austin Sumner, a DOH environmental and occupational epidemiologist, says it’s not likely that anyone working at the school is in “great danger” of developing an asbestos-related disease. As a result, the DOH has shut down the project, and all contractors, employees, and other workers using the building have been asked to vacate until it has been deemed safe to return. In addition to the floor tiles, several feet of asbestos insulation must be removed from pipes in the school’s basement. School officials, DOH representatives and EPA representatives met at the school on Wednesday July 28. DOH officials have also notified the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Over the next month, the school must be monitored for signs of asbestos contamination, and both the basement insulation and the floor tiles must be removed. John Hollar, chairman of the Montpelier Board of School Commissioners, says the school will do everything and anything necessary to ensure the school is safe before it reopens. Chris Crothers has designed an asbestos removal plan for the school, which has received preliminary approval from the DOH. (Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News)