Montclair, NJ-Parents of children who attend the Montclair Middle School want to know why their sons and daughters were exposed to deadly, cancer-causing asbestos at the school in 2008. The Renaissance School is housed in a building leased to it by the Archdiocese of Newark, and in March, the over 100 year old structure had been undergoing a number of renovations. It was during this construction that the New Jersey State Department of Health and Senior Services (SDHSS) discovered significant levels of airborne asbestos in Madonna Hall, a space pressed into service as a temporary student dining area during the renovations.
The construction project apparently resulted in the disturbance of asbestos containing plaster in areas adjacent to Madonna Hall, and as a result, airborne concentrations of asbestos in the dining area were measured by the SDHSS at more than six times any acceptable level. State officials ordered the immediate evacuation of over 200 students who were only allowed to return to the school after asbestos abatement procedures had been carried out.
Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral that was once widely prized by a variety of industries. The material was, and in many cases still is, used in a host of building materials such as floor and ceiling tiles, roofing, siding, pipe insulation, etc., and as a result, the cancer-causing substance can be found in millions of structures in the U.S. and around the world. When microscopic asbestos fibers are inhaled into the lungs, they can remain there undetected for many decades before finally resulting in diseases such as malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM), a particularly aggressive and deadly form of cancer.
Nervous and angry parents of students at the Renaissance School, all of whom are well aware of the extreme dangers posed by exposures to asbestos, received apologies and reassurances from the Montclair schools business administrator, Dana Sullivan, who told parents, "We've had over 100 air quality tests done there. That school is completely safe now." Not all parents are convinced of the school's safety, and many more are angry that their children were unnecessarily exposed to asbestos in the first place.
It was later learned that the Montclair school district was cited by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), via the New Jersey Health Department, for its failure to have a proper asbestos abatement plan in place at the school during the renovations-such a plan is required by federal law. It remains unclear as to what, if any, sanctions the EPA will ultimately impose on the school district.
Donna Leusner, spokeswoman for the Health Department was swift in announcing the state agency's condemnation of the Renaissance School's actions. "If you have public school children in school, then you have a responsibility to ensure that an asbestos management plan exists for that building." Ms. Leusner went on to state, "The onus is on them (the school), regardless of whether you lease or own the building."
Months after students were allowed to return to the Montclair school, parental concerns remain. "The bottom line is that someone knew at the end of March that there was asbestos in Madonna Hall, and I wasn't notified until May." said Jeannine Cox, a frustrated and concerned parent of a student at the New Jersey school. "Every parent should have been notified immediately. I'm really upset that administrators withheld information. We had a right to know what was going on while our children were there." Ms. Cox echoes the sentiments of all parents, many of whom are actively seeking assurances from state and school officials that such an incident will never happen again.
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