In Vermont, the Montpelier School District is seeking restitution from South Barre-based Morrison-Clark, Inc., a family-owned regional floor covering sales and installation dealership.
The suit results from what Montpelier School District officials described as damages resulting from Morrison-Clark's questionable handling of asbestos debris cleanup last summer at a renovation at Main Street Middle School.
The debris resulted from the removal of what the Vermont Department of Health believes were asbestos tiles, and the damages - $88,379 - are in consequence of that removal, which was not conducted under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA), designed to prevent or mitigate asbestos-related exposures in schools, whether public, private or religious.
The AHERA provisions mandate a regimen of observational, informational and instructional policies that protect America's school-age children, and include: inspection (and re-inspection) for asbestos; the development of an asbestos management plan; dissemination of the plan and any asbestos remediation or abatement plans scheduled or undertaken; the designation of an asbestos liaison person; the use of licensed personnel in inspection, remediation or abatement; asbestos-awareness training for custodial staff.
Asbestos fibers, released from broken, damaged or otherwise friable asbestos-containing materials, can be ingested or inhaled, and lead to a number of diseases, including asbestosis - a debilitating respiratory ailment resulting from prolonged asbestos exposure - to various lung and digestive system cancers, including mesothelioma.
Mesothelioma is cancer of the mesothelial lining of the lungs and abdomen, the most common of which is pleural (lung) mesothelioma. Because the disease does not produce significant symptoms for up to five decades, it is usually found to have invaded, and involved, major organs like the heart and lungs. It is commonly fatal, and most patients diagnosed with mesothelioma are given from a year to 18 months to live. Ten percent may survive up to five years.
The issue first surfaced a year ago, when the school was closed after a Vermont Department of Health investigator saw Morrison-Clark installers removing what it believed were asbestos tiles with a mechanical chipper, which rapidly removes tile surfaces in pieces via a moving blade. The workers also reportedly failed to provide ventilation protection (sealed spaces, positive-air pressure, and intermittent air sampling) as mandated by state law.
Appropriate measures were later undertaken, and the work resumed, but the ensuing delay resulted in Main Street Middle School students returning to the building five days after the start of the 2008-09 school year. The school district has refused to pay for the work accomplished because asbestos dust was found in a ventilation duct, but still hopes to settle the matter out of court.
The school district charges the firm with neglect for failing to follow state regulations during removal; breach of contract for stating that the work would meet said regulations; and consumer fraud because the firm represented itself as having the experience to complete the work according to regulations. Costs to the school district include almost $24,000 to hire a licensed asbestos removal and decontamination firm, another $26,400 for another, similar contractor, and miscellaneous fees, and $38,000 in miscellaneous costs - part of which may represent emotional distress and anxiety suffered by employees working in the school at the time.
Morrison-Clark legal representatives insist workers did follow state regulations - even to the use of an approved asbestos-tile chipper - and that no asbestos contamination was ever found. The company also says it complied with wet-asbestos removal and disposal requirements set by the state, and disagrees with the Vermont Dept. of Health inspector's interpretation of events.
In addition to the school district suit, Morrison-Clark has also been fined by Vermont's OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) division. The Vermont Department of Health and the state's environmental protection division may also enforce some type of administrative action, discipline or fines.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Connecticut Factory Fire Raises Asbestos Concerns
A fire at a former Connecticut paper mill was put out earlier this week, but some of the findings amidst the ashes, have raised potential health concerns for area residents. The early-morning fire started at the Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation factory in the town of Torrington. The fire at the facility was so extensive that numerous area roads had to be sealed off and residents in nearby homes had to be evacuated.
Although the factory is no longer active, a local firm, Daley Moving and Storage, still uses the building as a storage warehouse. The company's owners were out of town on vacation when the fire broke out, but they said that they planned on coming back to inspect the damage. One witness claimed to have seen the roof on the complex's central building collapse during the blaze.
Investigators from Connecticut's Department of Environmental Protection tested air samples a few hours after the fire. They found asbestos particles in three of the six samples they tested. Although long-term exposure to asbestos is known to cause mesothelioma, a rare form of lung cancer, state environmental officials stated that the brief exposure periods during and after the fire did not constitute a serious health risk to the firefighters or to residents of the neighboring areas.
Also, investigators said, the asbestos on the site was stored in an encapsulated form. In this form, the dangerous fibers were chemically bound to the construction material. When encapsulated asbestos burns, the smoke and fumes from it would not pose the same danger as exposure to loose fibers would.
One of the area residents, Chuck Martin, expressed concern about the asbestos exposure. As a contractor who has worked inside the facility's older buildings, he stated that all of the structures on the site contained asbestos. Mr. Martin also spoke of his wife, who has respiratory problems like asthma and bronchitis, and how she had to stay inside their house all day due to the smoke and fumes from the fire.
Several reports had the fire becoming so vast that it went to four alarms. Numerous off-duty Torrington firefighters were called in to put out the blaze, as well as volunteers from nearby towns of Litchfield, Harwinton and Thomaston. Torrington Fire Chief John Field said that the fire burned so hot that vinyl siding on nearby homes melted off the exterior walls. He also credited his firefighters for keeping the blaze under control. The factory complex held six buildings in all, but the quick response from local departments kept the fire limited to the central structure.
The first alarm on the fire was reported at 5 a.m., but it grew to four alarms within three hours. Firefighters brought the blaze under control just after 9 a.m. and had it completely extinguished by 2 p.m. More than fifty firefighters were called in to put out the inferno, with one taken to the hospital to recover from oxygen deprivation, one treated briefly for a sprained joint and three others treated for heat exhaustion. State and local arson investigators are examining the cause of the blaze.
Although the factory is no longer active, a local firm, Daley Moving and Storage, still uses the building as a storage warehouse. The company's owners were out of town on vacation when the fire broke out, but they said that they planned on coming back to inspect the damage. One witness claimed to have seen the roof on the complex's central building collapse during the blaze.
Investigators from Connecticut's Department of Environmental Protection tested air samples a few hours after the fire. They found asbestos particles in three of the six samples they tested. Although long-term exposure to asbestos is known to cause mesothelioma, a rare form of lung cancer, state environmental officials stated that the brief exposure periods during and after the fire did not constitute a serious health risk to the firefighters or to residents of the neighboring areas.
Also, investigators said, the asbestos on the site was stored in an encapsulated form. In this form, the dangerous fibers were chemically bound to the construction material. When encapsulated asbestos burns, the smoke and fumes from it would not pose the same danger as exposure to loose fibers would.
One of the area residents, Chuck Martin, expressed concern about the asbestos exposure. As a contractor who has worked inside the facility's older buildings, he stated that all of the structures on the site contained asbestos. Mr. Martin also spoke of his wife, who has respiratory problems like asthma and bronchitis, and how she had to stay inside their house all day due to the smoke and fumes from the fire.
Several reports had the fire becoming so vast that it went to four alarms. Numerous off-duty Torrington firefighters were called in to put out the blaze, as well as volunteers from nearby towns of Litchfield, Harwinton and Thomaston. Torrington Fire Chief John Field said that the fire burned so hot that vinyl siding on nearby homes melted off the exterior walls. He also credited his firefighters for keeping the blaze under control. The factory complex held six buildings in all, but the quick response from local departments kept the fire limited to the central structure.
The first alarm on the fire was reported at 5 a.m., but it grew to four alarms within three hours. Firefighters brought the blaze under control just after 9 a.m. and had it completely extinguished by 2 p.m. More than fifty firefighters were called in to put out the inferno, with one taken to the hospital to recover from oxygen deprivation, one treated briefly for a sprained joint and three others treated for heat exhaustion. State and local arson investigators are examining the cause of the blaze.
Soldier's Home Superintendent Morin's Asbestos Charges Not Dismissed
On Dec. 18, 2008, Paul Morin, 56, of Chicopee, Massachusetts was indicted by a federal grand jury for reportedly violating the Clean Air Act, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provision made law in 1990 by the U.S. Congress.
The Act has a number of provisions, particularly several governing asbestos remediation and removal, under the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants, or NESHAP rules, and this is the part Morin violated by improperly removing a wall containing asbestos in a state-run veteran's hospice care center known as the Soldier's Home. Morin had been superintendent at the Home for a decade before the incident.
In October of 2007, Morin - who had returned from a year's sabbatical only two months before, and accepted a position as national commander of the American Legion - reportedly ordered maintenance workers at the facility to remove the wall using sledgehammers during a renovation of the facility, even though he had been warned that such a process could disturb asbestos insulation inside the wall, potentially exposing both untrained and unprotected workers, and the Home's occupants, to asbestos contamination.
Asbestos was widely used during most of the last century, both in building insulation and floor and ceiling (acoustical) tiles. Undisturbed, it is relatively harmless. Once broken or released, however, its fibers - ingested or inhaled - can lead to lung and digestive system cancers, notably pleural mesothelioma, a cancer of the mesothelial lining of the lungs that is generally regarded as lethal. Fewer than ten percent of mesothelioma victims survive more than five years. Long exposure to asbestos is also the primary cause of asbestosis, though a single exposure can potentially result in mesothelioma.
The removal triggered an investigation by the state's Environmental Crimes Strike Force, working for the Department of Health and Human Services, or DHHS, which subsequently resulted in an indictment against Morin alleging that improper procedures ultimately resulted in an asbestos abatement project (by a licensed contractor) that ended up costing the Home more than $18,000.
The DHHS is also the agency overseeing the Soldier's Home, and as a result of the indictment Morin was placed on paid administrative leave, at $114,345 a year, pending his arraignment on Dec. 30 of 2008.
Deputy Superintendent Mike Pasterczyk was selected to replace him in the interim, and services at the Home continued without interruption. Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley's office was slated to handle the case.
On Jan. 8 of 2009, Morin was arraigned before Judge Constance M. Sweeney in Hampden County Superior Court and pleaded innocent. Morin was subsequently released on his own personal recognizance. Joseph D. Eisenstadt, acting on behalf of the Attorney General's office, did not request bail.
Legal arguments in Morin's defense pointed out that at no time were asbestos levels over the EPA's permissible amount, and that Morin's failure to comply with NESHAP regulations was the result of what his defense described as "virtual alphabet soup" of regulators during the entire time the work was being completed.
In fact, according to Mass. Department of Environmental Protection Agency (DEP) spokesman Edmund J. Coletta, there were no regulators at the time Morin violated all the DEP's protocols, which require that worker's wear protective equipment, the area be confined, and asbestos wetted during removal and disposed of properly.
On August 7, Judge C. Jeffrey Kinder of Hampden Superior Court refused to dismiss the charges against Morin, saying his defense lawyer did not make any points worthy of his (Kinder's) consideration. Morin's case is scheduled for a final pre-trial conference Sept. 14, with a full trial on Oct. 5.
If convicted, Morin faces a fine of up to $25,000 and up to one year in jail, according to a spokesman from the Mass. AG's office. A spokeswoman for the Mass. Executive Office of Health and Human Resources also reports that Morin is actually on unpaid leave, which conflicts with earlier reports.
The Act has a number of provisions, particularly several governing asbestos remediation and removal, under the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants, or NESHAP rules, and this is the part Morin violated by improperly removing a wall containing asbestos in a state-run veteran's hospice care center known as the Soldier's Home. Morin had been superintendent at the Home for a decade before the incident.
In October of 2007, Morin - who had returned from a year's sabbatical only two months before, and accepted a position as national commander of the American Legion - reportedly ordered maintenance workers at the facility to remove the wall using sledgehammers during a renovation of the facility, even though he had been warned that such a process could disturb asbestos insulation inside the wall, potentially exposing both untrained and unprotected workers, and the Home's occupants, to asbestos contamination.
Asbestos was widely used during most of the last century, both in building insulation and floor and ceiling (acoustical) tiles. Undisturbed, it is relatively harmless. Once broken or released, however, its fibers - ingested or inhaled - can lead to lung and digestive system cancers, notably pleural mesothelioma, a cancer of the mesothelial lining of the lungs that is generally regarded as lethal. Fewer than ten percent of mesothelioma victims survive more than five years. Long exposure to asbestos is also the primary cause of asbestosis, though a single exposure can potentially result in mesothelioma.
The removal triggered an investigation by the state's Environmental Crimes Strike Force, working for the Department of Health and Human Services, or DHHS, which subsequently resulted in an indictment against Morin alleging that improper procedures ultimately resulted in an asbestos abatement project (by a licensed contractor) that ended up costing the Home more than $18,000.
The DHHS is also the agency overseeing the Soldier's Home, and as a result of the indictment Morin was placed on paid administrative leave, at $114,345 a year, pending his arraignment on Dec. 30 of 2008.
Deputy Superintendent Mike Pasterczyk was selected to replace him in the interim, and services at the Home continued without interruption. Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley's office was slated to handle the case.
On Jan. 8 of 2009, Morin was arraigned before Judge Constance M. Sweeney in Hampden County Superior Court and pleaded innocent. Morin was subsequently released on his own personal recognizance. Joseph D. Eisenstadt, acting on behalf of the Attorney General's office, did not request bail.
Legal arguments in Morin's defense pointed out that at no time were asbestos levels over the EPA's permissible amount, and that Morin's failure to comply with NESHAP regulations was the result of what his defense described as "virtual alphabet soup" of regulators during the entire time the work was being completed.
In fact, according to Mass. Department of Environmental Protection Agency (DEP) spokesman Edmund J. Coletta, there were no regulators at the time Morin violated all the DEP's protocols, which require that worker's wear protective equipment, the area be confined, and asbestos wetted during removal and disposed of properly.
On August 7, Judge C. Jeffrey Kinder of Hampden Superior Court refused to dismiss the charges against Morin, saying his defense lawyer did not make any points worthy of his (Kinder's) consideration. Morin's case is scheduled for a final pre-trial conference Sept. 14, with a full trial on Oct. 5.
If convicted, Morin faces a fine of up to $25,000 and up to one year in jail, according to a spokesman from the Mass. AG's office. A spokeswoman for the Mass. Executive Office of Health and Human Resources also reports that Morin is actually on unpaid leave, which conflicts with earlier reports.
Bondex on Trial for Asbestos Again
In Illinois last week, a Sangamon County jury decided against St. Louis, Missouri-based Bondex International, manufacturer of textured paints, finishes and joint compounds, and for former Springfield postal worker/handyman William Willis.
The settlement is the result of an asbestos exposure trial which called into question the liability inherent in asbestos-containing products manufactured by Bondex, Minnesota-based CertainTeed Corp., and Atlanta-based paper and building products manufacturer Georgia-Pacific Corp.
Willis, 69, currently lives in Arkansas, but spent most of his life in the Springfield area and worked as a U.S. Postal Service employee on the night shift from 1966 to 1992. In addition to his scheduled work, Willis was also employed as a truck driver, bus driver, and in home construction and repair from about 1960 to about 1980.
It was as a home repair specialist that Willis came into contact with CertainTeed's asbestos-containing pipe, and pipe joint compounds made variously by Bondex, Georgia-Pacific and other firms - all of whom reportedly phased out the use of asbestos in their products in 1977.
Willis, who said he developed incurable pleural mesothelioma as a result of working with the asbestos-containing compounds, noted in his suit that - to the best of his knowledge - none of the products contained warnings about their asbestos content, or if they did the warnings were not explicit.
Asbestos was widely used in insulative products, floor and ceiling tiles, and mastics or sealants, through most of the last century, until health officials began to recognize the dangers. In 1989, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency limited the use of asbestos in American-made products to one percent by weight (or volume).
Unfortunately, mesothelioma is a legacy disease which lies dormant for decades before causing enough symptoms to allow doctors to readily diagnose it. By that time, the prognosis is almost always poor because so many tissues and vital organs have been affected. Most patients suffering from pleural mesothelioma of long standing are given between a year and 18 months to live. Ten percent survive up to five years.
The settlement was reduced for prior settlements made with Willis, and his pretrial request for punitive damages was denied. The cost is levied solely at Bondex. CertainTeed and Georgia-Pacific were not ruled to be negligent, even though Bondex lawyers argued that, after decades, Willis could not be sure which manufacturer's products he had commonly used and what the labels might have said.
This is the same defense Bondex and Georgia-Pacific used in a similar trial in 2006, when they defended themselves in a Madison County courtroom by calling in metacognition and metamemory specialist Charles Weaver III, Ph.D, of Baylor University, who argued for the plaintiffs that people can't generally remember the brand name of a product used four decades previously, let alone what the product's warning label said.
The 2006 case revolved around 84-year-old Anita O'Connell, whose son Michael argued that Anita's asbestos-related disease resulted from her washing both her husband's and son's work clothes during 1966 to 1970 when the two men worked at the elder O'Connell's firm, Burbank, Illinois-based Bel-Aire Plastering.
According to Michael, the firm used joint compounds made by both Bondex and Georgia-Pacific, though he admits he also saw other manufacturer's products as well. His case was eventually damaged by the fact that, while drywall workers use joint compounds to seal and finish sheetrock wall edges, plasterers do not.
The lawyers in the most recent case also stated that Bondex's pipe compound never contained enough asbestos to cause harm, though in fact OSHA, the CDC, and the American Cancer Society agree there is no minimum, safe level of asbestos exposure; a day or a lifetime can trigger mesothelioma.
The settlement is the result of an asbestos exposure trial which called into question the liability inherent in asbestos-containing products manufactured by Bondex, Minnesota-based CertainTeed Corp., and Atlanta-based paper and building products manufacturer Georgia-Pacific Corp.
Willis, 69, currently lives in Arkansas, but spent most of his life in the Springfield area and worked as a U.S. Postal Service employee on the night shift from 1966 to 1992. In addition to his scheduled work, Willis was also employed as a truck driver, bus driver, and in home construction and repair from about 1960 to about 1980.
It was as a home repair specialist that Willis came into contact with CertainTeed's asbestos-containing pipe, and pipe joint compounds made variously by Bondex, Georgia-Pacific and other firms - all of whom reportedly phased out the use of asbestos in their products in 1977.
Willis, who said he developed incurable pleural mesothelioma as a result of working with the asbestos-containing compounds, noted in his suit that - to the best of his knowledge - none of the products contained warnings about their asbestos content, or if they did the warnings were not explicit.
Asbestos was widely used in insulative products, floor and ceiling tiles, and mastics or sealants, through most of the last century, until health officials began to recognize the dangers. In 1989, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency limited the use of asbestos in American-made products to one percent by weight (or volume).
Unfortunately, mesothelioma is a legacy disease which lies dormant for decades before causing enough symptoms to allow doctors to readily diagnose it. By that time, the prognosis is almost always poor because so many tissues and vital organs have been affected. Most patients suffering from pleural mesothelioma of long standing are given between a year and 18 months to live. Ten percent survive up to five years.
The settlement was reduced for prior settlements made with Willis, and his pretrial request for punitive damages was denied. The cost is levied solely at Bondex. CertainTeed and Georgia-Pacific were not ruled to be negligent, even though Bondex lawyers argued that, after decades, Willis could not be sure which manufacturer's products he had commonly used and what the labels might have said.
This is the same defense Bondex and Georgia-Pacific used in a similar trial in 2006, when they defended themselves in a Madison County courtroom by calling in metacognition and metamemory specialist Charles Weaver III, Ph.D, of Baylor University, who argued for the plaintiffs that people can't generally remember the brand name of a product used four decades previously, let alone what the product's warning label said.
The 2006 case revolved around 84-year-old Anita O'Connell, whose son Michael argued that Anita's asbestos-related disease resulted from her washing both her husband's and son's work clothes during 1966 to 1970 when the two men worked at the elder O'Connell's firm, Burbank, Illinois-based Bel-Aire Plastering.
According to Michael, the firm used joint compounds made by both Bondex and Georgia-Pacific, though he admits he also saw other manufacturer's products as well. His case was eventually damaged by the fact that, while drywall workers use joint compounds to seal and finish sheetrock wall edges, plasterers do not.
The lawyers in the most recent case also stated that Bondex's pipe compound never contained enough asbestos to cause harm, though in fact OSHA, the CDC, and the American Cancer Society agree there is no minimum, safe level of asbestos exposure; a day or a lifetime can trigger mesothelioma.
US Court of Appeals Rules on Minnesota Asbestos Standards
The Eighth Court of Appeals has issued a ruling on a case regarding the North Shore Mining Company and the standards for asbestos exposure levels in the state of Minnesota. The case centers on a measure known as the "control city standard". This standard calls for atmospheric fiber levels at the North Shore Mining facility in the town of Silver Bay to be no higher than those measured in "control city". St. Paul, the state capital, is the control city against which such measurements are taken in Minnesota.
The court's ruling dictates that, while the control city standard will still apply for any permit requirements for the facility, it will not be part of any injunction issued by the federal government. In short, the court ruled that state pollution standards are an issue for the states, not for federal authorities, while keeping the current standard intact.
The state agency responsible for environmental issues has called for testing the air quality around the state's taconite mines before issuing permits. The state also wants firms to use the best technology available for testing and potential remediation on such sites to keep the measures of airborne asbestos at or below the control city level. The control city standard came about due to a federal ruling made in 1974. Recently, that ruling has been dismissed, which prompted attorneys for North Shore to move that the control city standard be disregarded as a criterion for permits.
No definitive statements have been made to see if North Shore has either the legal grounds or the inclination to plead their case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Officials with both North Shore and their parent firm have stated on numerous occasions that the fibers freed from the raw ore in the process of making the taconite pellets are not related to asbestos and do not pose a menace to the health of the surrounding population.
Fibers similar to asbestos have been detected in the air around the north shore of Lake Superior for several decades. Another federal court ruling prohibited the company, then known as Reserve Mining, from dumping waste rock into the lake. Previous studies had shown that a high concentration of taconite fibers in water could lead to health problems. In response, the firm began dumping its waste rock into landfills.
An investigation into cancer diagnoses in the area has uncovered a remarkably high incidence rate of lung cancer, mesothelioma and other lung disorders in that portion of the state. Researchers from the University of Minnesota School of Medicine are conducting a study on miners in the Iron Range area to determine why a high percentage of workers in the area's taconite plants have developed these diseases.
Chuck Laszewski, a spokesman for the environmental group Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, stated that he favored the court's ruling. Although he was disappointed that the grounds for the federal standard were dismissed, Mr. Laszweski was pleased that the effect of keeping the control city standard was still in place, even if the implementation was to be at the state level.
The court's ruling dictates that, while the control city standard will still apply for any permit requirements for the facility, it will not be part of any injunction issued by the federal government. In short, the court ruled that state pollution standards are an issue for the states, not for federal authorities, while keeping the current standard intact.
The state agency responsible for environmental issues has called for testing the air quality around the state's taconite mines before issuing permits. The state also wants firms to use the best technology available for testing and potential remediation on such sites to keep the measures of airborne asbestos at or below the control city level. The control city standard came about due to a federal ruling made in 1974. Recently, that ruling has been dismissed, which prompted attorneys for North Shore to move that the control city standard be disregarded as a criterion for permits.
No definitive statements have been made to see if North Shore has either the legal grounds or the inclination to plead their case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Officials with both North Shore and their parent firm have stated on numerous occasions that the fibers freed from the raw ore in the process of making the taconite pellets are not related to asbestos and do not pose a menace to the health of the surrounding population.
Fibers similar to asbestos have been detected in the air around the north shore of Lake Superior for several decades. Another federal court ruling prohibited the company, then known as Reserve Mining, from dumping waste rock into the lake. Previous studies had shown that a high concentration of taconite fibers in water could lead to health problems. In response, the firm began dumping its waste rock into landfills.
An investigation into cancer diagnoses in the area has uncovered a remarkably high incidence rate of lung cancer, mesothelioma and other lung disorders in that portion of the state. Researchers from the University of Minnesota School of Medicine are conducting a study on miners in the Iron Range area to determine why a high percentage of workers in the area's taconite plants have developed these diseases.
Chuck Laszewski, a spokesman for the environmental group Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, stated that he favored the court's ruling. Although he was disappointed that the grounds for the federal standard were dismissed, Mr. Laszweski was pleased that the effect of keeping the control city standard was still in place, even if the implementation was to be at the state level.
Residents Must Vacate North Dakota Apartment Building Due to Asbestos
Officials in Ward County, North Dakota have ordered that residents of the Emerson Apartment complex, in the town of Minot, vacate the property by the 15th of October and not allow for future tenants. The county now owns the building, which sits near the county courthouse, and is examining its options on how to deal with the site. Last week, members of the County Commission deliberated over the future of the building, which is contaminated with asbestos. After the residents have vacated the building, the commission will decide if the asbestos needs to be removed before or after the building's demolition, or if it would be feasible to remodel the building and remove the asbestos during the process.
According to Mr. Dana Larsen, a highway engineer for Ward County, a complete run of tests still needs to be conducted to determine the level and extent of asbestos use in the building's original construction materials. He said that the pipes in the building would need to be tested to ascertain the amount of asbestos insulation used and how the dangerous material was distributed throughout the structure. Mr. Larsen estimates that the asbestos remediation and cleanup would run from $125,000 to $150,000.
The commission agreed to allow Mr. Larsen to pursue grants that would alleviate some of the costs of asbestos removal at the site. However, they have not yet agreed as to what should become of the building and the site. County Commissioner John Fjeldahl moved that the building should be put up for sale, but no other members of the commission seconded the motion. Commissioner Jerome Gruenberg has stated that the county should attempt to remove all of the asbestos from the site before putting the building on the market. Commissioner Jack Nybakken proposed that the building stay open due to the city's current housing crunch. While the previous meeting resulted in a four-to-one vote in favor of demolition, the county has yet to set plans in motion for the building to come down.
Commission Chairman Bruce Christiansen mentioned that the building presents a serious environmental and fire hazard. He also expressed his fears about how the building had become a serious problem for the neighborhood and that the decisions regarding its fate would carry "great ramifications and consequences".
Bruce Walker, a representative with the property management firm First Minot Management, remarked to the commission that the city is suffering from a housing shortage and that availability for housing is at the lowest level in a quarter-century. He also told commissioners that the site does not require demolition and needs to be kept available for tenants who may not have anywhere else to go. According to Mr. Walker, the building is "safe now" and that the asbestos contamination is "not an issue". His firm has offered to keep the property open for renters for the next two years while the council decides on whether to sell the building to another party, keep it and remove the asbestos, or carry out their previous vote for demolition.
According to Mr. Dana Larsen, a highway engineer for Ward County, a complete run of tests still needs to be conducted to determine the level and extent of asbestos use in the building's original construction materials. He said that the pipes in the building would need to be tested to ascertain the amount of asbestos insulation used and how the dangerous material was distributed throughout the structure. Mr. Larsen estimates that the asbestos remediation and cleanup would run from $125,000 to $150,000.
The commission agreed to allow Mr. Larsen to pursue grants that would alleviate some of the costs of asbestos removal at the site. However, they have not yet agreed as to what should become of the building and the site. County Commissioner John Fjeldahl moved that the building should be put up for sale, but no other members of the commission seconded the motion. Commissioner Jerome Gruenberg has stated that the county should attempt to remove all of the asbestos from the site before putting the building on the market. Commissioner Jack Nybakken proposed that the building stay open due to the city's current housing crunch. While the previous meeting resulted in a four-to-one vote in favor of demolition, the county has yet to set plans in motion for the building to come down.
Commission Chairman Bruce Christiansen mentioned that the building presents a serious environmental and fire hazard. He also expressed his fears about how the building had become a serious problem for the neighborhood and that the decisions regarding its fate would carry "great ramifications and consequences".
Bruce Walker, a representative with the property management firm First Minot Management, remarked to the commission that the city is suffering from a housing shortage and that availability for housing is at the lowest level in a quarter-century. He also told commissioners that the site does not require demolition and needs to be kept available for tenants who may not have anywhere else to go. According to Mr. Walker, the building is "safe now" and that the asbestos contamination is "not an issue". His firm has offered to keep the property open for renters for the next two years while the council decides on whether to sell the building to another party, keep it and remove the asbestos, or carry out their previous vote for demolition.
May Whitney Elementary in Lake Zurich Suffers Ongoing Asbestos Concerns
In August of 2007, storms and flooding in Lake Zurich, Illinois led to the closure of May Whitney Elementary School at 120 North Church St. after crews found evidence of post-storm asbestos and mold contaminating the building.
After considering the costs and the health threat represented by the contamination, Whitney school officials decided not merely to delay the start of school, but to move the 440 Whitney students next door for the entire school year.
This building, at 100 Church Street, is connected to Whitney school by a hallway. Constructed in 1929 as Lake Zurich High School and later repurposed as Middle School North, the building is fully as old and in need of repair as Whitney. Used for storage before Whitney students moved in, it allowed lengthy renovations to Whitney itself, but presented some of the same risks as post-flood Whitney.
Whitney has since reportedly been rendered safe, but tests conducted over the summer of 2008 showed the persistent presence of asbestos and lead, and skeptical parents - remembering the mold horror of a year earlier, when many of the students reported diffuse illnesses - remain uncertain if the building is truly safe for their children.
Arguments by Wheaton-based AR Remediation Corporation's spokeswoman, Kathleen Wahl, that the presence of a compound does not indicate a hazard, have failed to reassure, as have remarks by Community Unit School District 95 architectural consultant Fred Schuster, who insists that the building is in good, safe and sound condition, though Schuster has acknowledged the continuing presence of asbestos in mechanical rooms, floor tiles and some bricks.
A reported leak on August 28 of this year, between the repaired section of the roof and the old roof, was also said to pose no apparent threat, either in terms of asbestos or lead, and the problem was finally addressed on August 31 when it stopped raining.
But it is the presence of these persistent leaks - seven documented in the 2008-09 school year alone - that have parents concerned as they consider the effect of such leaks in areas that are inaccessible to asbestos inspection; that is, where district officials consider asbestos to be in effect "out of harm's way" even if damaged by water.
There are 22 such areas, according to the most recent inspection, most of them above ceilings or behind walls. According to District 95 Director of Facilities Richard Marzec, the potential for the aforementioned leaks to release asbestos into the air is "extremely small".
Though most experts agree asbestos isn't dangerous unless tampered with, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), The U.S. Dept. of Labor's Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), and the American Cancer Society all agree that there is no minimum safe level of asbestos exposure; a single incident or a lifetime can lead to mesothelioma, a particularly lethal form of cancer.
The twice-yearly inspections at Whitney are part of a plan mandated by the Illinois Department of Health; said plan based on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) guidelines. These guidelines direct all U.S. schools to prepare a report of asbestos locations within the school; disseminate the report - and all planned or active asbestos remediation activities - to parents, teachers and school staff on a regular basis; hire licensed, qualified asbestos remediation experts to prepare plans, perform inspections and undertake remedial actions; and instruct maintenance staff on the recognition of, and appropriate handling of, asbestos.
While parents worry at the start of another Whitney Elementary School year, District 95 officials face the prospect of about $45 million in needed upgrades, a budget crisis made worse by falling property tax revenues in the wake of the housing bubble and widespread foreclosures, and a recession that is predicted to linger well into 2010.
As one district official has pointed out, the process of making district schools safe for students is a case of "Band-Aid fixes" rather than major repairs. The statement, though an accurate assessment of the district's budget capabilities, is nonetheless far from reassuring to parents who watch their young children go off to school in a nearly century-old building known to contain asbestos.
After considering the costs and the health threat represented by the contamination, Whitney school officials decided not merely to delay the start of school, but to move the 440 Whitney students next door for the entire school year.
This building, at 100 Church Street, is connected to Whitney school by a hallway. Constructed in 1929 as Lake Zurich High School and later repurposed as Middle School North, the building is fully as old and in need of repair as Whitney. Used for storage before Whitney students moved in, it allowed lengthy renovations to Whitney itself, but presented some of the same risks as post-flood Whitney.
Whitney has since reportedly been rendered safe, but tests conducted over the summer of 2008 showed the persistent presence of asbestos and lead, and skeptical parents - remembering the mold horror of a year earlier, when many of the students reported diffuse illnesses - remain uncertain if the building is truly safe for their children.
Arguments by Wheaton-based AR Remediation Corporation's spokeswoman, Kathleen Wahl, that the presence of a compound does not indicate a hazard, have failed to reassure, as have remarks by Community Unit School District 95 architectural consultant Fred Schuster, who insists that the building is in good, safe and sound condition, though Schuster has acknowledged the continuing presence of asbestos in mechanical rooms, floor tiles and some bricks.
A reported leak on August 28 of this year, between the repaired section of the roof and the old roof, was also said to pose no apparent threat, either in terms of asbestos or lead, and the problem was finally addressed on August 31 when it stopped raining.
But it is the presence of these persistent leaks - seven documented in the 2008-09 school year alone - that have parents concerned as they consider the effect of such leaks in areas that are inaccessible to asbestos inspection; that is, where district officials consider asbestos to be in effect "out of harm's way" even if damaged by water.
There are 22 such areas, according to the most recent inspection, most of them above ceilings or behind walls. According to District 95 Director of Facilities Richard Marzec, the potential for the aforementioned leaks to release asbestos into the air is "extremely small".
Though most experts agree asbestos isn't dangerous unless tampered with, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), The U.S. Dept. of Labor's Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), and the American Cancer Society all agree that there is no minimum safe level of asbestos exposure; a single incident or a lifetime can lead to mesothelioma, a particularly lethal form of cancer.
The twice-yearly inspections at Whitney are part of a plan mandated by the Illinois Department of Health; said plan based on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) guidelines. These guidelines direct all U.S. schools to prepare a report of asbestos locations within the school; disseminate the report - and all planned or active asbestos remediation activities - to parents, teachers and school staff on a regular basis; hire licensed, qualified asbestos remediation experts to prepare plans, perform inspections and undertake remedial actions; and instruct maintenance staff on the recognition of, and appropriate handling of, asbestos.
While parents worry at the start of another Whitney Elementary School year, District 95 officials face the prospect of about $45 million in needed upgrades, a budget crisis made worse by falling property tax revenues in the wake of the housing bubble and widespread foreclosures, and a recession that is predicted to linger well into 2010.
As one district official has pointed out, the process of making district schools safe for students is a case of "Band-Aid fixes" rather than major repairs. The statement, though an accurate assessment of the district's budget capabilities, is nonetheless far from reassuring to parents who watch their young children go off to school in a nearly century-old building known to contain asbestos.
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