ASHLAND — Parents have raised concerns about potential student exposure to asbestos after a group cleaned a room often used to store art supplies.
Although the room does contain black mastic — a flooring adhesive banned in 1989 because many of the formulas contained asbestos — Superintendent Candi Shaver said students are not in danger of exposure.
“There were a small number (six) of students that were involved in the Beta Club, which held a service day on Nov. 7,” Shaver said. “Some were working in a room connected to the art room.”
It was known the room, and several other rooms in the school, have black mastic under the floor tiles, but the areas are considered non-hazardous, Shaver said.
While students were in the room, they cleaned, swept and moved shelves. While moving one of the shelves, students found an area with broken tiles and what appeared to be water damage.
The broken tiles posed no threat, Shaver said.
“The only way the students would have been at risk is if there was active grinding or abrasions in the room,” Shaver said. “The kids weren’t scraping up tiles.”
In a letter from Environmental Consultants, representative Jeffry Faust assured the district and its parents that there isn’t any danger.
“Generally, asbestos containing mastic is considered non-friable (non-hazardous) by federal and state regulations unless the material is subject to grinding, abrading, or pulverized by aggressive techniques,” the letter said. “In accordance with these regulations, we recommend that exposed mastic (not covered by flooring) be removed or covered to prevent occupants from getting the adhesive on shoes, clothing, etc.”
None of the students came in contact with the small area that was uncovered and no damage was done to the mastic, Shaver said.
Though the area posed no threat to students, the area since has been abated so work can be done to discover the source of the water damage, Shaver said.
According to the report from Environmental Consultants, area quality tests performed prior to and after the abatement found that the room is safe for occupancy by students and workers.
The mastic is used in a large portion of the rooms in all district buildings and has been the subject of a removal plan for years, Shaver said.
“The district has an abatement plan that we have followed and we typically do a couple of rooms during the summer break each year where we remove the tiles and mastic and replace it all,” Shaver said. “This was a planned area to abate, but it was moved up so work could safely be done to find and fix the water leak.”
Support Lumiserver & Cynesys on Tipeee
Visit
our sponsors
Wise (formerly TransferWise) is the cheaper, easier way to send money abroad. It helps people move money quickly and easily between bank accounts in different countries. Convert 60+ currencies with ridiculously low fees - on average 7x cheaper than a bank. No hidden fees, no markup on the exchange rate, ever.
Now you can get a free first transfer up to 500£ with your ESNcard. You can access this offer here.
Source link
