Kansas Middle School Closed on Discovery of Asbestos

On the weekend of March 28-29, a winter storm that led to melting ice on the roof of the Haysville Middle School in Haysville, Kansas, caused school officials to close part of the school.

The melting ice damaged the roof, and subsequent leakage into asbestos-containing plaster affixed to the concrete ceilings in 12 classrooms - the plaster concealed behind a dropped ceiling - made officials decide that closing the classrooms represented the safest measure for students and faculty. The students were moved to other classrooms in the fairly modern, two-story building, and the affected rooms sealed to prevent access.

School officials immediately reported the leak and damage to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, which is charged with asbestos monitoring and remediation. Hayesville, a part of school district USD 261, contains nine schools (one high school, two middle schools and six elementary schools) and four special education facilities serving almost 5,000 students.

By late Monday, March 30, two asbestos remediation firms had arrived at the school to assess the air quality and make recommendations for the professional repair/remediation of the asbestos-containing plaster and area cleanup. Said cleanup was completed late on Wednesday, April 1, and the classroom reopened on April 2.

Asbestos, a fibrous mineral used in insulation, floor and roofing tiles, tile glues and some ceiling panels, produces miniscule fibers that, when disturbed and subsequently inhaled, can cause illnesses like lung cancer, cancer of the pharynx, cancer of the esophagus, stomach cancer, colon cancer, cancer of the rectum, asbestosis and malignant mesothelioma.

This last, mesothelioma - an especially deadly form of cancer - can lie dormant for decades, but when it finally produces symptoms, results in death within a matter of a few years. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which regulates asbestos products made in the U.S. (by limiting asbestos content to 1 percent), such asbestos-containing materials are present in thousands of U.S. schools, and the stipulations for their management documented in the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act, or AHERA, which is available on the EPA's website.

Neither OSHA, the CDC, nor the American Cancer Society, has ever established minimum, safe levels of exposure. A day or a lifetime can trigger mesothelioma. Fortunately, air testing at Haysville Middle School - conducted in all 12 classrooms, as well as two adjacent hallways - showed no air contamination.

Haysville school officials should be commended for acting promptly and responsibly to limit student and faculty exposure to potentially lethal asbestos. Schools do not always act so promptly, even schools of higher learning, as witness the 2006 asbestos violations at the University of Arizona, where renovations at Memorial Union hall exposed hundreds of students to asbestos when the remodeling contractor hauled asbestos-laden floor tiles through the food court and dumped them outside the building in a student commons area.

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