Asbestos Violations Cost Bluffs Schools $3,500
By Tom Shaw, Omaha World-Herald, Neb.
Feb. 9–COUNCIL BLUFFS — The Council Bluffs Community School District will pay $3,500 for asbestos violations during the renovation project at Thomas Jefferson High School.
The penalty was assessed late last month by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. According to an order by the department, the violations occurred in July 2006 when a subcontractor was removing parts of the building’s heating and cooling system.
The school district had been warned about similar violations in connection with renovation of the high school’s auditorium and cafeteria in 2005.
District spokeswoman Diane Ostrowski said no students were in the affected areas during the renovation work, and “there is no concern at all about asbestos in the building now.”
On July 12, 2006, about 25 feet of insulation-wrapped pipe was cut and carried through the school’s media center and a hallway, scattering debris throughout.
The wrap later was found to contain asbestos, which can cause cancer and is a hazardous air pollutant. The subcontractor’s employees performing the pipe removal work were not licensed asbestos contractors.
The next day, the school’s environmental consultant contacted the state resources agency about the incident. On July 14, an agency technician inspected the school and saw that an asbestos abatement contractor already had begun a cleanup. A sample of the pipe wrap was determined to contain asbestos.
The subcontractor performing the removal work, Glissman Salvage of Dakota Dunes, S.D., paid $3,000 and the subcontractor that hired that company, Mechanical Systems Inc. of Omaha, was ordered to pay $1,500, according to the state. Representatives of those companies could not be reached for comment.
The general contractor for the renovation project, W. Boyd Jones Construction of Omaha, still is in talks with the state. Manager John Crane said he could not comment because “the facts are at issue and we are in dialogue on that.”
Last April, the school district had to hire a cleanup crew after dust contaminated with lead was discovered during the high school renovation project.
Officials said the contaminated dust came from old ceiling plaster that had lead paint on it. The dust was released when drop-ceiling tiles were removed.
Work continues on the $12 million renovation project at Thomas Jefferson High School, 2501 W. Broadway. Ostrowski said all demolition is complete.
—–
Copyright (c) 2007, Omaha World-Herald, Neb.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.