More asbestos found at school
Hilda_Har...@aol.com
Christopher Witkowsky , For The Reporter 12/18/2002
LOWER GWYNEDD – Three more dust and debris samples taken at Mattison Avenue
Elementary School Dec. 13 tested positive for asbestos‚ prompting immediate
air quality testing throughout the building Tuesday.
Results of the air quality tests could be available by this afternoon‚
Wissahickon School District Superintendent Stanley Durtan said.
None of the asbestos discovered so far was airborne‚ Durtan said.
A spokesman for Philip Services Corp. of Fort Washington‚ the company doing
the testing‚ said air testing results could be available in “a day or two.”
Airborne asbestos particles that become lodged in lungs can lead to a chronic
lung disease called asbestosis.
The Montgomery County Health Department is holding an informal meeting at 7
tonight at Lower Gwynedd Elementary School for parents of Mattison students.
The samples that tested positive were taken from areas above the ceilings in
hallways located near the main hallway‚ Durtan said Tuesday‚ adding the air
testing would be done throughout the building‚ but would focus on classrooms
and hallways.
“Asbestos was found above ceiling tiles in areas not directly in contact with
students‚” Durtan said. “We’ve now commissioned aggressive air sampling this
afternoon to determine if students have been in contact with asbestos.”
Durtan said he believes the school will be reopened no later than Jan. 2 even
in the worst-case scenario – if asbestos is found in the air throughout the
school. .
Philip Services collected 44 samples of dust and debris from around the
building Dec. 13‚ three of which were the samples that tested positive for
asbestos Tuesday.
The company spokesman said he could not talk about the work Philip Services
Corp. was doing at Mattison‚ but he did say the company was testing to
determine the scope of cleaning needed to clear the building of
contamination.
“We’re trying to find if there is a significant asbestos problem‚” he said.
The kindergarten- through third-grade school in Ambler was closed Dec. 12
after officials from the federal Environmental Protection Agency informed
district officials of allegations of improper removal of asbestos during a
renovation project at the building last summer.
EPA officials tested dust and debris samples Dec. 10 taken from hallways‚ a
boys bathroom‚ the maintenance garage‚ a stage and two air ducts and
discovered that a pile of debris in the corner of the attached garage
contained asbestos.
Mattison students were relocated to other schools in the district‚ with
kindergarten and first-graders moving to Lower Gwynedd Elementary School and
second- and third-graders moving to Blue Bell Elementary School.
The EPA also is conducting a criminal investigation into the allegations but
has refused to name the company being investigated or who made the
allegations.
The contract for asbestos removal was awarded by the district to MBA/RT LLC in
February 2002 for $86‚868 and district officials have stated the work could
have been subcontracted out to other companies.
Repeated attempts to contact MBA/RT LLC have been unsuccessful.Pepper
Environmental Services of Philadelphia did asbestos removal work at Mattison
for about five weeks in June and July 2002‚ but president Steven Pepper said
he has not been contacted about a criminal investigation.
Pepper said his company was hired by RT Environmental‚ which used to be part
of MBA/RT LLC.
Pepper said the work involved removing asbestos fittings from piping above the
ceilings in designated areas of the building‚ which included hallways and
classrooms. The company also removed asbestos floor tiles‚ he said.
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