Liberal, Kansas – Asbestos has been exposed in yet another school this week, this time in an elementary school in Liberal, Kansas. According to USD 480 Director of Auxiliary Services Alan Haskell, the asbestos was discovered in insulation during an installation procedure at MacArthur Elementary School.

Haskell said, “For the past six to eight months, we’ve been going into the different schools and putting electrical outlets in the ceiling for ceiling mounted projectors… The company accidentally cut four small electrical outlets out in the ceiling in the round structure at MacArthur.”

Cutting holes in the “round structure” helped expose asbestos-containing insulation that had been added when the school was constructed.

Vast amounts of asbestos were used in construction between the 1940s and 1980s, due to the substance’s excellence as a thermal, electrical, and acoustical insulator, and also due to the fact that vast quantities of asbestos could be mined cheaply.

Haskell also said that the school called Thompson Environmentalists as soon as the asbestos was discovered. Thompson Environmentalists is a company that performs biannual inspections at USD 480 schools. In addition, Haskell added, “As soon as we found out [about the asbestos], we isolated that area.”

The asbestos was exposed during the week of March 17, during the school’s Spring Break, so there were no students in the area at the time. However, the asbestos was not discovered until March 21.

Only around half a square foot of asbestos insulation was exposed, and the area was isolated while the area was cleaned up. Air tests were then carried out to determine if unsafe levels of asbestos were present. According to Alan Haskell, the tests showed an “allowable amount” of asbestos.

The “allowable amount” is that defined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration as a Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL). For asbestos, that limit is 0.1 fibers per cubic centimeter of air.

The school filed reports with the state according to EPA regulations that require all schools with asbestos to have an asbestos management plan. Plans must include information about where asbestos is located in the school, and what, if any, steps are taken to seal or otherwise contain it.

Parents of students at the school, and employees of the school, can request to view a copy of a school’s asbestos management plan at any time. Schools are also required to inform parents and employees of the existence of the plan each year.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 17th, 2008 at 4:54 pm and is filed under Asbestos Exposure, Kansas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. Responses are currently closed, but you trackback from your own site.