New Jersey High School to Begin Asbestos Abatement this Summer

TINTON FALLS - On March 31, 2009, at a Monmouth Regional School District public hearing, education officials announced their plan to fund an expensive asbestos abatement project at the Monmouth Regional High School. Asbestos is a known carcinogen, and the effort to rid the school of the hazardous material is applauded by teachers, parents, and students alike.

The planned removal of asbestos will begin after the school closes for summer vacation, and the project is purely a voluntary action that is not a mandated response to any emergency or unhealthful condition at the high school. Monmouth Regional Business Administrator Maria Anne Parry spoke at the school district meeting, and she wanted to assure everyone present that the asbestos in the school posed no threat to human health. "It is wrapped around piping," said Parry of the asbestos. "It is completely contained, and no one has gotten sick from it." Parry went on to explain that school officials decided to remove the asbestos at the high school because of plans to renovate portions of the school building's ceilings, an action that could disturb the toxic substance and release asbestos fibers into the air.

Asbestos is a material that was once widely prized by a broad spectrum of industries, and during the industrial revolution of the 20th century, the naturally occurring silicate mineral found its way into countless products and industrial processes-certain brands of everything from roof shingles to toaster ovens to brake pads to baby powder once contained some type or amount of asbestos. Industry's attraction to asbestos is due to the numerous desirable characteristics of the material: asbestos can withstand damage from extremely high temperatures; it's resistant to corrosive chemicals; it has a very high tensile strength, and it has superior insulating qualities.

In the early 1970s, it was confirmed that asbestos posed a serious risk to the health of anyone who inhaled microscopic, airborne asbestos fibers. These fibers can become permanently lodged in lung tissues, where, up to 50 years later, they can cause the onset of deadly respiratory diseases such as the incurable lung cancer killer malignant pleural mesothelioma. It's no surprise, therefore, that the presence of asbestos in school buildings causes many citizens to support the removal of all traces of the toxic substance.

Parry pointed out at the meeting that the presence of asbestos in schools is widespread. "It is not unusual for a building that opened in 1961 to have been built with asbestos," said Parry. "Most buildings built during this time were built with asbestos."

Administrator Parry told those at the meeting that the asbestos was to be removed from the 300 wing of the main building, an area of the school that hosts both administrative offices and classrooms. Additionally, asbestos containing materials will also be removed from the school's technology room. Parry admitted that there remains other areas of the high school that will continue to contain asbestos contaminated materials, but a three to five-year plan to rid the building of all traces of asbestos was in place.

All asbestos abatement procedures at the school will be performed by a properly certified and state licensed asbestos removal contractor, and Parry pointed out that constant air quality surveys would be conducted during the entirety of the project. "The asbestos will be contained completely," she said. "It is completely safe."

The asbestos cleanup at the high school will be expensive. The projected costs for the asbestos eradication in the 300 wing will be just over $94,000 while the technology room abatement procedures will cost approximately $25,000. Parry added that the quoted costs included contractor's profit and overhead, which accounts for roughly 20 percent of the overall cost of the project. The general consensus amongst all members of the school community is that the high cost is well worth the result.

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