On March 19, Beverly Hills Middle School officials in Huntington, W. Virginia, closed the school after a renovation project was suspected to have released a small amount of asbestos.
According to William Smith, superintendent of Cabell County Schools, a contractor engaged in the renovation inadvertently drilled five ¼-inch holes in a ceiling known to contain asbestos.
The release is not considered a major incident under the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act because the area itself is less than three linear feet, requiring only cleanup. Nonetheless, school officials felt that air sampling was essential to verify that there was no danger before pupils and teachers were allowed to return.
The school, located in the Cabell County School district, serves 555 students in grades 6 through 8 and has 38 teachers. Cabell County was created in 1809 from part of Kanawha County, W. Va., and buildings in the area are correspondingly old, meaning the discovery of asbestos - banned in 1989 - is not surprising.
Asbestos is a fibrous mineral that was used in insulation, floor and roofing tiles, tile glues and some acoustical ceiling panels up to the 1970s, when health officials began to recognize its dangers. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned most uses in 1989. Nonetheless, asbestos persists, especially in older buildings, where fibers - accidentally released - can cause a variety of illnesses, most notably mesothelioma, an almost incurable form of cancer that often doesn't manifest for three or more decades, by which time the prognosis is very poor. Most people who are diagnosed with mesothelioma die within 18 months.
The asbestos inspection contractor, Pinnacle Environmental Consultants of Hurricane, W. Virginia, reportedly took ten samples throughout the building, and then personally delivered them to an independent, third-party air-testing facility in Louisville for more extensive analysis.
According to Cabell County School Spokesperson Jedd Flowers, the tests demonstrated that air quality levels in the school were well within acceptable limits as established by the federal Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA). The school reopened on Monday, March 23 and classes resumed their regular schedule.
"We're extremely pleased with the results we have received," noted District Superintendent William A. Smith.
"Not only were the tests within acceptable limits, they established that the air quality in the school was actually quite good. I feel completely confident the building is safe for our students and staff to occupy, and look forward to reopening the school on Monday."
Beverly Hills Middle School is one of the lucky ones. Many school officials do not know that the schools they work in, and supervise, contain asbestos. Other school districts have such poorly planned and badly implemented hazardous release protocols that the damage remains unassessed and unmitigated for days, even weeks, endangering both students and staff.
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