Montpelier, Vermont – All three schools in the district of Montpelier in Vermont will open late this year, due to the asbestos problems suffered by Main Street Middle School.

Rather than opening on August 28 as planned, the schools will all open several days later on September 2. Repeated asbestos-related issues at Main Street Middle School are at the root of the late opening, and the delay in the start of the new school year will allow the complete removal of the contamination.

The problems began around two weeks ago, when Main Street Middle School was closed by the state Department of Health due to possible asbestos contamination. The school was closed on July 28 after a state Department of Health safety inspector found that workers at the school were using improper practices to remove floor tiles which contained asbestos.

Employees of the contracting company were chipping asbestos tiles off the floors to prepare for laying new tiles. The workers were not wearing face masks or using air-sampling pumps to monitor air quality while the asbestos was being removed. Classroom doors were left open, and there were no barriers around the work area to ensure that other workers were not able to enter.

As a result, the DOH shut down the project, and all contractors, employees, and any other workers using the building have been asked to vacate until it has been deemed safe to return.

Two other schools in the Montpelier district may face similar but less serious problems. Williamstown Elementary and Barre Town Middle and Elementary School both used the same contractor which was shut down at Main Street Middle School for its unsafe work practices.

Barre Town Middle and Elementary School has already voluntarily closed, and remains closed. The school was evacuated and closed on July 29, after school officials heard that the construction company they were using had already been removed from the Main Street school.

Officials of both of the closed schools are waiting to hear from the Department of Health for approval of clean-up plans to address asbestos contamination issues.

The work at Williamstown Elementary has already been completed, and it seems that there may be no safety issues at the school. According to Vermont Department of Health environmental and occupational epidemiologist Dr. Austin Sumner, the job was much smaller and mechanical tile chippers were not used.

School district officials worked tirelessly to try and solve the asbestos problems in time for the beginning of the new school year, with the district’s asbestos control officer Chris Crowther devising a plan for removing the asbestos from Main Street Middle School. Despite their best efforts, however, the schools will now be opening a little later than planned.

Less than two weeks after Main Street Middle School was closed by the state Department of Health due to possible asbestos contamination, more schools are under examination and may face similar problems.

Closed on July 28 due to asbestos-related problems, Main Street Middle School in Montpelier, Vermont remains closed and school officials don’t know whether the school will be able to open in time for the beginning of the new school year, just one month away.

The school was closed after a state Department of Health safety inspector found that workers at the school were using improper practices to remove floor tiles which contained asbestos.

Employees of the contracting company were chipping asbestos tiles off the floors to prepare for laying new tiles. The workers were not wearing face masks or using air-sampling pumps to monitor air quality while the asbestos was being removed. Classroom doors were left open, and there were no barriers around the work area to ensure that other workers were not able to enter.

As a result, the DOH shut down the project, and all contractors, employees, and any other workers using the building have been asked to vacate until it has been deemed safe to return.

At least two other schools in the Montpelier district may face similar problems. The school district has discovered that Williamstown Elementary and Barre Town Middle and Elementary School both used the same contractor which was shut down at Main Street Middle School for its unsafe work practices.

Barre Town Middle and Elementary School has already voluntarily closed, and remains closed. The school was evacuated and closed on July 29, after school officials heard that the construction company they were using had already been removed from the Main Street school.

Officials of both of the closed schools are waiting to hear from the Department of Health for approval of clean-up plans to address asbestos contamination issues.

The work at Williamstown Elementary has already been completed, and it seems that there may be no safety issues at the school. According to Vermont Department of Health environmental and occupational epidemiologist Dr. Austin Sumner, the job was much smaller and mechanical tile chippers were not used.

Main Street Middle School has been concerned about the possibility of opening late, but Montpelier School Superintendent Steve Metcalf says if the school can get its clean-up activities underway soon it may still open in time for the start of the school year, less than four weeks away.

Montpelier, Vermont - Montpelier’s Main Street Middle School is doing what it can to solve its asbestos problems—the school was quickly evacuated and closed when the problem was discovered, and federal Environmental Protection Agency officials have been in the school to investigate the possible asbestos contamination which occurred this week. Now, however, the school has learned that cleaning up the asbestos will cost around $50,000.

The school was closed on July 28, and currently officials don’t know whether the school will be able to open in time for the beginning of the new school year, less than one month away.

Main Street Middle School was closed after a state Department of Health safety inspector found that workers at the school were using improper practices to remove floor tiles which contained asbestos. DOH asbestos and lead engineer Andrew Chevrefils noticed that workers were using methods which violate state regulations for removal of asbestos.

Employees of the contracting company were chipping asbestos tiles off the floors to prepare for laying new tiles. The workers were not wearing face masks or using air-sampling pumps to monitor air quality while the asbestos was being removed, and area where the work was being done was not kept isolated or contained.

Despite the lack of appropriate safety precautions, Austin Sumner, a Department of Health epidemiologist, says it’s unlikely anyone is in great danger of developing an asbestos-related disease.

As a result of the possible asbestos contamination, the state Department of Health has shut down the project, and all contractors, employees, and other workers using the building have been asked to vacate until it has been deemed safe to return.

The district’s asbestos control officer Chris Crothers says the extent of the asbestos problems, and the measures required to solve them, may keep the school closed into the new academic year. Crothers has designed an asbestos removal plan for the school, which has received preliminary approval from the DOH.

However, the clean-up and air monitoring is expected to take at least two weeks to complete, and that’s after the plan has been fully approved, which may put an additional week or more on the total time needed to clean up the school.

Asbestos is present not only in floor tiles in the school, but also in pipe insulation in the basement. The pipe insulation is thought to be friable, making clean-up particularly dangerous and necessitating extra caution.