Chesapeake middle school evacuated after asbestos found

For those of you asking why it was not done this summer, this renovation has been ongoing for quite awhile. The signs were out in front of the school this past summer. There must be contained areas. I have to agree Dennis the elevated levels were probably in a contained area.

No chance for a lawsuit. This story was quite slanted.

My father has mesothelioma from asbestos exposure and has undergone radical treatments (lung removal, radiation, chemo) in the hopes of remission. His oncologist, surgeon, PCP are all in agreement that his mesothelioma likely occurred from ONE exposure to asbestos. He was a game warden his entire life, grew up in a home with no asbestos, never lived in a home with asbestos....but was in a meeting in a building ONE time years ago that had asbestos. My father's surgeon said that one exposure is all that the body needs for some people. Others can work around it their entire lives and have asbestosis but never get mesothelioma. The threshold varies with each person. It almost always takes 20-30 years from the time of exposure to cause the cancer. So, to set the record straight, one exposure to asbestos can be deadly. My family knows from experience....

The issue is not weather the amount of asbestos exposed to, is harmful or not. The issue is that people who are paid decent salaries, via taxpayer funds are not following procedures in place to prevent this from happening. If you look back at all the poor decisions, Fly Ash Golf Course, Drug Dealer owned Bio-Diesel Plant, Bell Harbor, Four Million for Wal-Mart Road, you can understand the lack of investigative prowess of our local government at every level. We must stop thinking of what's best in the short term and start playing "devils advocate" to protect the city from the negative long term affects these poor decisions will have on our city. We desperately need people on our city council, who will make the right decisions based on the benefits, projects will bring to our city and its citizens, instead of decisions based on who contributed the most money to my political campaign. There must be accountability for this failure of following procedure, starting at the top.

Having been in and around asbestos abatement contracts for more than 30 years, I have one simple question: Was the high reading inside the containment area or outside of it? (My educated guess is that it was inside where it is expected to be high during the removal process; and, somebody spun this article out of control to get folks excited over nothing). What say you, V-P? Better yet, what does the Contractor's Certified Industrial Hygienist (involvement required by law) responsible for the safe abatement say?

between this, the fly ash situation, and the Ryan Frederick controversy is the perceived failure of the persons in charge to follow proper procedures. Sadly, it appears that lawsuits may be filed and the citizens and rank-and-file employees will be paying the price.

In the late 1980's, a federal law called AHERA was passed which required the inspection and sampling of all schools for the presence of asbestos containing material. If found, the location was to be documented in a management plan that would track the condition, abatement and maintenance of the material through annual reinspections to ensure it didn't deteriorate over time becoming a hazard. The implication in the article that the asbestos was "hidden" until now is simply unbelievable. If true, then MANY people over the last 20 years have not done their jobs. The "AHERA Management Plan" should be a public document available for viewing in the school office. VP, how about doing a little more investigative reporting?

Please actually read the data. People need decades of daily exposure to start showing risk. This is as stupid as saying eating one doughnut will give you heart disease.

It is good to see that the spirit of Ronald Reagan lives on when he stated that "our trees and forests are the world's largest source of air pollution."
I agree with Mark and expect to see Evan over at Crestwood this morning in his shorts and t-shirt removing this asbestos, in between his smoke breaks, of course.
Evan cites the CDC site and what I read there, from HIS citation, not mine is "Research has shown a clear link between exposure to asbestos and respiratory cancers."
That is a big deal Evan.

It may not be plutonium, but if you sit through the depositions of people who are dying of asbestosis, you get a good understanding of how deadly asbestos dust can be. People who didn't work with the material but were exposed to it by washing clothes of those that did. People that simply walked by places where asbestos dust was in the air. The simplest of exposures - and years later it destroys their lungs. There's a good reason people wear special suits and full masks when doing asbestos abatement work. Now if you don't think it's that dangerous, how about volunteering to work abatement at the Crestwood school without that protective equipment.

This stuff isn't plutonium. Stick to the science and not the fear mongering.

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/asbestos/asbestos/health_effects/index.html

Agree with many of the comments but feel sorry for the students who immediately had to evacuate the school. These projects should be done during the summer. Was it the fly ash golf course in Chesapeake that caused them to look into their school? Are their other schools? On another subject, can someone please explain why schools are built near power lines? Isn't it considered safe to build at least three football fields away??? Cost always seems to be the issue when building but it shouldn't be at the risk of our childrens' health...even long term.

All of the abatement work should have been done during the summer and completed well before the students were allowed back in the building. How in the world anyone allowed it to be done while the school is open is simply unbelievable. Some heads should definitely roll over this gross error. People have contracted asbestosis from the simpliest of exposure as they've found out. The problem is, the disease doesn't show up until years later. This situation could be a ticking time bomb for the City of Chesapeake.

Oh snap! I went there as a young lad (I think). Maybe airborne asbestos fibers are the cause of me being a bit weird.

Asbestos fibers are deadly because of their unique properties that allow them to become airborne for up to 72 hours and thereby are easily inhaled. When introduced into the human respiratory system they cause cancer,which may occur as a result of a single exposure. The first case was observed in England in 1924 and involved a 33 year old woman working in an area where asbestos was present. At present there are hundreds of thousands of Americans who have been exposed and many thousands who have developed crippling lung disease where they end up suffocating as their lungs eventually shut down. This should never have happened. My two children attend Crestwood Middle School and they have been exposed due to negligence on the part of the City of Chesapeake and its school system. When will they ever learn?

The Virginian-Pilot needs to think back to when asbestos was being removed from their building. Safety precautions for employees were NONE.

Another example how Chesapeake has done a great job managing our infrastructure. Heck of Job Chesapeake

I'm pretty sure the asbestos was that sprayed on stuff. That is dangerous, but when assessing disease risk, they look at how many years you have been breathing the fibers. The bus ride to the other school was more dangerous. It's still proper procedure to remove everyone from potential exposure until the material is cleaned up.

Start firing people from the top down. It was well known that this building contained asbestos. Will the same people that have certified the building “safe” in the past be the same ones that are making safety decisions now and in the future?

This work was started several months ago and it is a requirement to have an asbestos survey done of the entire proposed work area, before work is allowed to be started. During this survey, samples of ALL suspected materials containing asbestos are taken and analyzed. If asbestos is found anywhere, it must be safely abated, removed and properly disposed of before ANY work is permitted to start.

What happened here? Now, staff and our children have been exposed to asbestos and their school has been shut down. This should not have happened if proper regulations were followed regarding renovation of buildings where asbestos is present. In a building this old, that undertakes to upgrade the HVAC system, you can expect to find asbestos and it would be a miracle if asbestos were not present. It should have been removed last summer when the students were not present.