CHESAPEAKE
Students at Chesapeake's Crestwood Middle School were exposed to elevated levels of asbestos for a day and a half this week before the school was evacuated and the mineral was cleaned up.
Health experts say it takes prolonged exposure to asbestos, however, to cause the health problems it is known for: lung cancers and scarring of the lung tissue.
"The good thing about asbestos is it takes a number of years of exposure to generally cause the kinds of illnesses or cancer that people are concerned about," said Dr. Nancy Welch, director of the Chesapeake Health Department.
Construction workers revealed asbestos-covered pipes Dec. 29, while students were still on winter break, said school spokesman Tom Cupitt.
Students returned to school Monday. On Tuesday, the school system received the results of air-quality tests that were taken Monday. One of six tests showed high levels of asbestos.
Students were evacuated to nearby Oscar Smith High School that afternoon and were kept home from school the next day.
The Environmental Protection Agency deems air that has fewer than 70 asbestos fibers per square millimeter of air safe to breathe. Five out of six tests on the air at Crestwood showed asbestos levels below that, but one test showed the air at Crestwood had more than 90 asbestos fibers per square millimeter of air, Cupitt said.
That air sample was taken in the construction zone near the library, which had been cordoned off while workers were renovating the school's HVAC system, he said.
When the pipes were revealed, the school performed standard asbestos abatement procedures, which include sealing off the area, Cupitt said. Asbestos, a popular building material between the 1940s and 1970s, is common in older schools, and these weren't the first asbestos-covered pipes that workers had found there, Cupitt said.
If the material lies undisturbed, it is relatively harmless, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. W hen it's disturbed, fibers get into the air and can be inhaled.
This time, some of the asbestos the workers uncovered escaped the normal containment procedure. "We're not sure why there was that breach, and I'm not sure we will ever know," Welch said.
Students were allowed to return to school Thursday, after a second round of clean-up. Ten new tests taken Tuesday came back negative for elevated asbestos levels.
Parents said Thursday they weren't concerned about sending their children back into Crestwood.
"A bunch of us parents all called each other, and the only concern that I did hear was that they didn't want their kids sitting in an auditorium for two hours on Tuesday," said Lisa Poirier, whose son is in seventh grade at Crestwood. "It just proves Chesapeake needs to update their old schools."
The state Department of Labor and Industry is investigating whether faculty and staff were sufficiently protected.
Alicia Wittmeyer, (757) 222-5216, alicia.wittmeyer@pilotonline.com
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I didnt know there was a
I didnt know there was a good thing about asbestos!
Good to see
It's good to see the pilot followed up with some scientific facts.
Huge Problem
Wow, "more concerned their kids had to sit in the auditorium"...hence lies the problem. It is not ok to breathe asbestos fibers...period. No matter what the EPA says or how lite the health care professional wrongfully suggest. Asbestos fibers break down so small that they pass the normal body defenses. Once inside the lungs, the body attacks this foreigner but is unable to destroy it so it permanently scars. So breathing these fibers is unacceptable...period.
Because of the danger posed, workers have to be licensed and wear protective equipment, containments are made, ventilation is sealed, trash is double bagged in special danger bags, and trash is sent to a special hazardous material site. The cost to remove asbestos is significant but the results are permanent. Encapsulating is allowed; however, chances are there will be future incidents.
The Navy has a huge asbestos problem...but that is another story.
idea
Dr. Welch should move her office to Crestwood MS. And while they're moving furniture, the school board and the city council should meet there for the next year.
What type of political hack prefaces her guarded remarks with, "generally"? She specializes in preventative pediatric medicine? Come on! If it was your child, Dr. Welch, would you continue to send your kid there? Methinks not.
I don't trust her any further than I can shoot an asbestos laced spitball.
"Unless they were running
"Unless they were running Asbestos tests every single day for YEARS, they how can they guarantee that it was only short-term exposure?"
Uh, because it was undisturbed until construction workers found it? They're renovating the school. It's also part of the reason a lot of the kids may have had no exposure at all -- they're in trailers outside.
But it's a perfect story for local TV. ASBESTOS!?!?!?! EVERYONE PANIC!
Take note, parents! When
Take note, parents! When little Johnny gets that cough next October, unleash legal fury upon the school system! Yes, in our lawyer-driven culture of victimization, the city realizes any opportunity to sue it for any possibility of wrongdoing will be taken advantage of by moronic parents seeking a buck. They'll be represented by greedy lawyers having no real regard for actual law. So let's bring back death by firing squad, and line up the lawyers.
short term exposure? are they sure?
I'm certainly not an expert on Asbestos, but how do they know that the children & staff were only exposed to it for a short period of time? Unless they were running Asbestos tests every single day for YEARS, they how can they guarantee that it was only short-term exposure?