Oregon’s Portland Public Schools released records this week detailing school buildings known to have asbestos. PPS also released a list of lead paint problems in schools.

The district also noted in its 13-page report that neither of these lists are actually complete.

The list of asbestos problems and lead paint issues are just a “sampling of asbestos repairs from a larger database of district-wide projects,” the report said.

They will be used to help decide on upcoming remediation projects to be included in future plans.

Portland Public Schools released a breakdown of schools with the biggest repair needs. The repair issues included in these documents include areas like roof replacement, seismic upgrades, poorly sealed walls, and insufficient fire alarms and sprinklers.

In total, it listed 105 different repair projects totaling an estimated cost of $96 million.

PPS records show around $7.6 million in repairs needed at Grant High, $5 million at Benson High School, $3.3 million at Lincoln High, and $3.2 million at Madison, just to name a few.

According to Portland Public Schools, some of the schools where repairs will be extremely costly cannot be addressed right away.

In many of these cases, the district plans to rebuild these schools, a common theme for high schools right now, instead of making incremental adjustments immediately that would later be overshadowed by rebuilding. The schools mentioned above are included in these plans.

For instance, Grant High School is the first on the list of high schools being rebuilt. Voters approved building a new Grant High School to be completed by fall 2019.

This project will cost roughly $112 million. Plans for new buildings for the other high schools, however, are in the more distant and precarious future. Funding for these projects hasn’t been voted on, and may not even be determined on the November ballot later this year.

The documents also suggest a major health hazard from lead in drinking water in various schools throughout the district.

According to Portland Public Schools Senior Director of Facilities David Hobbs, there are 15 priority schools the district is looking to address first. Fixing the lead problem in these schools would cost about $7 million in total.

Asbestos Cancer

Asbestos cancer is a latent disease, but it is life-threatening. Most often, asbestos exposure affects construction workers on sites that have asbestos-containing materials.

Asbestos fibers are released into the air as workers saw, grind, and contain materials with asbestos in them, or as they use equipment with asbestos.

However, anyone who has suffered from asbestos exposure may later be diagnosed with asbestos cancer, especially if that asbestos exposure is constant, such as from a building they work, study, or live in.

Asbestos cancer is extremely dangerous, partially because since it lies dormant for many years, it can remain undetected and quietly progress to the more fatal stages of the disease, when it is far less treatable.

Filing an Asbestos Exposure Lawsuit

While filing a lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering of someone diagnosed with asbestos cancer, or bring a loved one back to life, it can help to compensate for financial expenses that are often been incurred through medical bills and lost wages.

If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with cancer, especially lung cancer or mesothelioma, after asbestos exposure, you may be able to file a lawsuit.