Archive for the ‘Arizona’ Category

Phoenix, Arizona - The Tempe Union High School District in Phoenix has announced it will retest all of its campuses for asbestos. Apparently, administrators can’t locate documents containing details about the removal of asbestos-containing materials, and so schools can’t verify where asbestos is located in their buildings.

District director of plant operations Bob Anderson says the inspection and testing is more of a precaution, and should cost less than $10,000 for the entire school district.

The testing was prompted by an incident which occurred back in May, when asbestos was found at Corona del Sol High School.

Parents who noticed workers dressed in protective clothing made inquiries about the situation, and Bob Anderson subsequently discovered that certain documents relating to the removal of asbestos at Corona, Marcos de Niza, McClintock, and Tempe high schools were missing.

All schools are required by federal law to adhere to Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) guidelines, which require schools to create and maintain asbestos management plans. The plans must include details of the location of any asbestos, as well as all measures taken to prevent exposure risks.

In addition, schools must be inspected every three years, and asbestos management plans must be available for public review by staff and parents.

After AHERA was passed in 1986, the Tempe Union High School District completed all the required paperwork, but the district could not afford testing for all schools.

According to Bob Anderson, schools which could not be tested were assumed to contain asbestos. The schools were tested in 1993 and again in 1996, and management plans were completed and submitted to the EPA as required.

Parents became concerned that the 1993 documents were missing and not available for public review, and in response the school district agreed to have all Tempe Union schools retested.

Some schools in the district were built after 1986 and thus don’t have to be tested regularly, however Anderson says all district schools will be tested to ensure public concerns are alleviated and make sure all of its schools are safe for students and staff.

The school district has recently spent several months testing and improving air quality at its schools in response to concerns about mold problems. Most of the work, carried out during the summer break, has now been completed.

Arizona - The Environmental Protection Agency has fined Portable Practical Education Preparation, Inc. for alleged violations of the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA).

Portable Practical Education Preparation, Inc. holds charters for twelve charter schools in Arizona.

In May 2006, the EPA inspected one of the twelve schools, the Celestino Fernandez Learning Center, and found that the school was unable to disclose its asbestos management plan. All schools that contain asbestos are required to create and maintain such a plan according to AHERA.

Subsequently the EPA found that PPEP, Inc. had not carried out asbestos inspections or created asbestos management plans for some of its twelve schools. Another school in violation of AHERA was the Alice S. Paul School, which had an asbestos management plan but which had not been inspected within the time frame that federal law requires.

Katherine Taylor, Associate Director for the Communities and Ecosystems Division in the EPA’s Pacific Southwest region, said “Organizations responsible for charter schools need to understand their facilities must meet all of the federal asbestos in schools requirements, as failure to do so can result in penalties.”

“Asbestos can potentially endanger the health of students, teachers, and maintenance workers at schools, so we are pleased the PPEP charter schools have now conducted inspections and its asbestos management plans are in place.”

In August 2006, accredited asbestos inspectors carried out inspections of PPEP, Inc.’s twelve schools, including “Lito” Pena Learning Center, Manuel Bojorquez Learning Center, Raul H. Castro Learning Center, Cesar Chavez Learning Center, Jose Yepez Learning Center, Celestino Fernandez Learning Center, John David Arnold Learning Center, Victor Soltero Learning Center, Eugene Lopez Learning Center, and Robles Junction Learning Center.

The inspections discovered around 600 square feet of asbestos-containing materials at the Raul H. Castro Learning Center and the Celestino Fernandez Learning Center, and around 500 square feet of asbestos at the Manuel Bojorquez Learning Center. After the inspections asbestos management plans were created for each of the schools.

Federal laws require that schools conduct initial inspections with accredited inspectors, to determine if asbestos is present on the premises. If asbestos is discovered, the school must then prepare a management plan to address the problem. Even if no asbestos is discovered, the school must develop a plan that includes building inspection results or an architect’s statement.

Schools must also designate a trained person to oversee asbestos abatement in the school and ensure that the school remains safe and complies with federal requirements. In addition schools must make their plan available to staff and parents.

The EPA fined Portable Practical Education Preparation, Inc. a total of $18,500 for its AHERA violations.

Arizona-based mining company ASARCO alleges that its parent company, Grupo Mexico, systematically stripped its assets and left behind little more than a shell.

Grupo Mexico is a mining conglomerate headed by Chairman and Chief Executive German Larrea Mota-Velasco. The company is the world’s third largest producer of copper, and has mining interests in several South American locations.

ASARCO filed for bankruptcy in 2005, and during the process a bankruptcy judge removed Grupo Mexico’s control over the company due to allegations that the parent company was stripping ASARCO’s assets.

ASARCO’s legal battle begins on Monday May 12, with the beginning of a multi-billion dollar civil lawsuit it has brought against Grupo Mexico. German Larrea Mota-Velasco is expected to testify during the trial.

Among ASARCO’s claims are that Grupo Mexico knew it faced potential liabilities of more than $1 billion when it acquired the ASARCO company in 1999, as well as the responsibility of cleaning up to twenty Superfund sites. In addition, ASARCO claims that Grupo Mexico stripped the subsidiary of assets, including Peruvian copper mines that ASARCO once had a significant stake in and were the company’s most significant asset. ASARCO claims the parent company did this to prevent the mines being used to pay ASARCO’s creditors.

ASARCO also claims that Grupo Mexico used the fact that it controlled all the parties in the transaction to its own advantage, because it allowed the parent company to underpay ASARCO for the mines.

The US Department of Justice had initially blocked the asset transfer, but eventually negotiated an agreement with Grupo Mexico that required the company to set up a $100 million trust fund for environmental clean-up.

The outcome of this civil case will likely determine whether or not many of ASARCO’s creditors-including contaminated sites in many western states, as well as bond creditors and former employees and others suffering from asbestos-related diseases that the company is liable for-will see any money when the company emerges from bankruptcy.

Some estimates put the value of claims and other liabilities ASARCO is responsible for at tens of billions of dollars.

Among the total is several billion dollars worth of lawsuits relating to exposure to asbestos, lead, and other toxins. More than $165 million will be allotted to clean up environmental damage at eight different Montana sites.

ASARCO is seeking more than $10.5 million from Americas Mining Corp., a subsidiary of Grupo Mexico. The $10.5 billion would come from the return of the Peruvian Copper mine holdings and from dividends from those mines.

G. Irvin Terrell, lead attorney for ASARCO, said “We hope this fund can be used in great part to clean up many of the sites across the West.”