Asbestos In The Classroom

March 28, 2006
A Connecticut high school may be facing exorbitant costs to replace science desks containing harmful asbestos fibers. The discovery of the hazardous situation came when a high school custodian at Danbury High School drilled holes into one of the black-topped laboratory tables and asbestos dust fibers were released into the air.

The schools ventilation system was shut down immediately to prevent the spread of the fibers and measures were taken to protect the students. Among these efforts to avoid asbestos exposure for Danbury High School students were thorough air tests, notes to parents, closure of the affected classrooms and expert cleanup procedures with special vacuums to collect the asbestos remnants.

I think we absolutely needed to be overly thorough, commented Jack Kozuchowski, director of Department for Environment and Occupational Health of Danbury. In the old days, no one would have blinked in cleaning this up. We did a fully licensed clean up.

Kozuchowski added, that he was pleased with the efforts of the school district to appropriately respond to the incident.

Danbury however, still faces a major problem with the desks considering there are approximately one hundred desks made of the same materials located throughout the school. Replacing one laboratory table typically costs around $1000, making the cost of replacing all 100 desks exceedingly high for the school district.

We replace desks on an as-needed basis, but is this something we want to look into now? Yes, commented Danbury High Schools principal Catherine Richard.

As we do renovations the materials are removed from the classroom, added the schools superintendent Eddie Davis. We know we have asbestos materials, but they are not hazardous if they are managed and maintained properly, Davis said.

Asbestos in schools may be found in desks, pipe insulation, floor tiles and older building materials that were likely installed in the 1970s or before.

Many school districts throughout the United States have recently spent millions to remove potential asbestos risks from their classrooms.

The American Trial Lawyers Association believes a trust fund is an easy way out for companies that spent years covering up the dangers of asbestos while its workers were suffering irreparable health effects. People suffering the most severe illnesses, such as mesothelioma because of asbestos exposure just want to receive a fair compensation for the deterioration of their health. Contact us for more asbestos and mesothelioma information.

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