A Kentucky school district has arranged for additional asbestos remediation after a former teacher filed an asbestos mesothelioma lawsuit.

Letcher County Schools announced plans to remove asbestos-laden tile in three of its schools. The remediation work, which the school system describes as only precautionary, will take place at Letcher, Fleming-Neon and Arlie Boggs schools at a time when students are not present. The project is expected to take about two years and cost $150,000.

School superintendent Tony Sergent says the Letcher County school system has had an asbestos removal plan in place for many years and has followed that plan. The school system has already replaced or sealed certain asbestos-based construction materials according to the plan’s requirements. Letcher Elementary principal Wendy Rutherford says that custodians regularly clean and wax the tile to prevent asbestos exposure.

The plaintiff in the asbestos mesothelioma lawsuit is former teacher Roger H., who taught history at Letcher High School from 1976 to 2003. He was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2014.

In researching his own condition, Roger says the information he found kept leading him to asbestos as the cause. Roger says some of his old co-workers told him the old school building was “loaded” with asbestos. (The building housing Letcher High School now houses Letcher Elementary School.)

Mesothelioma is a cancer of the pleura, the double-layered membrane between the lungs and the inside of the chest wall. It is always fatal within one to four years after diagnosis. Roger’s doctors have estimated he has as little as eight months to live. However, treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy can relieve symptoms and may prolong life.

The only known cause of mesothelioma in the U.S. is asbestos. Even very low levels of exposure can lead to development of disease. It also has a very long incubation period. Cases of mesothelioma may be identified today that are linked to exposure that occurred from 30 to 50 years ago.

Although new uses of asbestos have been substantially banned in about 55 countries including the U.S., new cases of asbestos mesothelioma continue to arise based on exposure that occurred in the years before regulation.

Medical science has been aware of the health hazards associated with asbestos exposure since the 1930s. Yet in the ensuing decades, commercial and industrial uses of asbestos continued.

In the 1960s and 1970s, victims of asbestos exposure began filing asbestos mesothelioma lawsuits in large numbers, finally giving the issue the attention it needed. The U.S. government responded with legislation and regulation banning certain uses of asbestos and restricting others.

Abatement of asbestos is necessary only in certain circumstances. In some cases, as is the case at Letcher Elementary, asbestos may be left in place as long as certain precautions are taken.

Today, the Environmental Protection Agency promulgates regulations that govern the way U.S. schools handle asbestos in their buildings. All public and private schools are required to inspect their facilities for asbestos and to come up with a plan for effectively dealing with it. Removal of asbestos from schools is rare but is in some cases necessary.