Two Maryland Schools Settle Asbestos Management Violations

BALTIMORE - Officials from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced that settlements had between reached between the government and two Maryland schools that had both been charged with violations of federal guidelines related to the management of asbestos in all school buildings. Asbestos is a known cancer causing agent, and as such, strict federal laws have been enacted to prevent human exposures to the hazardous material.

Subsequent to school inspections by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) in 2007, The Grace Cooperative Nursery in Aberdeen, and the Maryland School for the Blind in Baltimore were both charged by the MDE with violations of a federal law that requires the administrators of all school buildings, whether public or private, to have on hand a federally approved asbestos management plan. The Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA), requires school officials to have on file a written and detailed plan to prevent student exposures to asbestos; such a plan will typically include the results of a thorough asbestos survey designed to identify any sources of asbestos within a school structure.

An asbestos management plan must be available for public inspection at a school building, and the document must also be distributed to parent, teacher, and employee organizations on an annual basis. These organizations must be informed before any asbestos abatement procedures are to be performed at a school, and the AHERA also requires school officials to properly train school personnel in the identification and safe management of asbestos containing materials.

Asbestos is a common, naturally occurring mineral that can be located in the soil or in a variety of above ground rock formations. Asbestos can be identified in a variety of chemical compositions, types, and colors, though, health officials have declared that certain types of exposures to asbestos in any form can be hazardous to your health. Asbestos was once popular with a broad spectrum of industries, and the material could be found in countless products from automotive brake pads to the siding or roofing shingles on a home. Despite strict bans on asbestos in the U.S. and many countries around the world, asbestos can still be found in items such as children's toys, household appliances, caulking compounds, baby powder, hair curlers, etc.

In the early 1970s, it had been scientifically and medically proven that microscopic, airborne asbestos fibers-once inhaled into the lungs-could lead to serious respiratory and other diseases. Asbestos fibers that are inhaled become permanently imbedded in lung tissues where, up to 50 years later, these brittle, needle-like fibers can result in the severe scarring of the lungs known as asbestosis. Inhaled asbestos fibers can also cause the onset of malignant pleural mesothelioma, a highly aggressive and fatal form of cancer. Because of the extreme toxicity of asbestos, federal and state officials must remain vigilant in enforcing laws to control the dangerous material.

AHERA violations at the Baltimore and Aberdeen schools stemmed from the failure of both institutions to: include all areas of the school in the asbestos survey and management plan; failure to thoroughly inspect for the presence of asbestos; failure to maintain proper asbestos plan documentation, and failure to properly disseminate details of the asbestos plan to the appropriate organizations.

At the Maryland School for the Blind, the MDE agreed to waive all fines in light of the fact that education officials had spent just over $7,000 to bring the school into AHERA compliance, whereas the Grace School was fined $4,525 after administrators spent approximately $1,000 to do the same. The state's settlements with the schools came as part of an EPA initiative to enforce asbestos control and management laws in schools across the country, and it is meant to serve as a warning and wakeup call to school administrators to ensure that their school's asbestos management plan meets the letter and the sprit of the law.

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