School Newspaper Challenges Asbestos Reporting

In Indiana, investigators at Central High School, Muncie, gathered evidence to confirm the presence of asbestos in two of the school's classrooms.

The investigation is the result of efforts by the school's newspaper, The Munsonian, which on Friday, April 17, published an article titled, "Questions persist over air quality".

The article prompted school officials to contact students and parents over the finding, after which they reportedly threatened to fire journalism teacher and student newspaper advisor Terry Nelson, and to take measures against the student journalist who wrote the article, charging both with interfering with encapsulated asbestos. The material in question is ceiling tiles, which show no evidence of having been encapsulated.

If true, administration tactics are reprehensible. Not only have they accused a teacher and student of wrongdoing for attempting to identify an obvious hazard, but the presence of asbestos at Central is no secret, according to Central Facilities Director Lon Sloan, who admits the presence of asbestos in the school even though abatements have been performed three times between 1980 and 1990. Sloan expects more abatement procedures in the future.

Asbestos, commonly found in mineralized rock formations, causes various cancers of the lung and digestive tract, as well as asbestosis. One especially lethal form of lung cancer is mesothelioma. In fact, asbestos is the only known cause of mesothelioma, which lies dormant for decades and commonly kills its victims within 18 months of diagnosis.

In 2007, the Indiana Department of Labor found violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH) when the contractor of record refused to allow asbestos remediation workers and others to see air samples being taken, and failed to provide air quality sampling results.
School District Superintendent Marlin Casey argued at the time that students were never in any danger, though school officials had reportedly falsified the air monitoring reports, citing April 16 and 17 as sampling dates, though no samples had been collected on those dates.

According to Bill Reiter, the director of facilities for the school district, the Indiana Department of Labor's request for air sampling documentation does not indicate that the Department is dissatisfied with reporting so far.

Students and parents, and some teachers, are not satisfied. One unnamed individual says that the people working on asbestos abatement did not speak English very well. Another observed that the use of immigrant labor was a cost-saving measure, but added that, thankfully, his children didn't go to Central.

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) is checking reports that a custodian was observed on Friday, April 17, "frantically" cleaning up a white substance that appeared to be asbestos. Sloan, who says student concerns are being addressed and affirms that all asbestos in the school is encapsulated, noted that checking and sampling the asbestos would have been best left to the school superintendent and his custodial staff.

In the same article, The Munsonian addressed the issue of asbestos in floor tile adhesive. The IDEM has taken samples of adhesive, as well as ceiling tiles which the newspaper reports are handled by students all the time, from throwing pencils at it to hanging banners during Spirit Week.

Adam Goldstein, an attorney for the Student Press Law Center in Arlington, Va., says the story isn't about removing tiles to sample asbestos, but the fact that students are constantly exposed to the fibers (if the tiles are in fact asbestos). Goldstein further observed that the closure of two classrooms (science and art) is now deemed urgent, in spite of school administrators insisting the tiles are encapsulated. Goldstein also reports that one of the teachers, whose room is now being closed as a result of the asbestos furor, was "interrogated and bullied" by said administrators.

Asbestos, a fibrous mineral used in floor tiles, tile adhesives, insulation and acoustical ceiling panels up until 1983, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, passed a law limiting its domestic use, can cause a number of illnesses. These include various lung cancers, cancer of the digestive system from the esophagus through the colon and rectum, and asbestosis.

Another disease, mesothelioma, has asbestos as its only cause. A particularly lethal form of lung cancer, mesothelioma is not generally diagnosed until the third decade after exposure, by which time most victims are given no more than 18 months to live.

Sources: The Star Press, Greatschools.net

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