The extremely cold weather on the East Coast has exposed asbestos hazards in some schools.

Crocker Elementary School in Fitchburg, Mass. experienced a burst pipe due to the cold weather. As a result, water damaged asbestos-containing ceiling tiles during the winter break. School children and teachers received an additional week off while the school worked with licensed experts to repair the damage.

Asbestos hazards in schools across the country are a real health concern. Almost half of our schools were built between the years 1950 and 1969, which was a period of time when asbestos was a popular building material for several reasons. Gymnasiums, auditoriums and cafeterias were insulated with asbestos-laced insulation because of the material’s extraordinary soundproofing capabilities.

Walls, ceilings, pipes and roofs often were completed with asbestos-based materials because they were fireproof. None of these items are considered dangerous in their final resting stage, but once disturbed, asbestos fibers released into the air can be deadly.

Laws Require Precautions in Schools with Asbestos Hazards

The United States Congress passed AHERA (Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act) in 1986. As a result the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) was required to create a plan to ensure schools safely handled asbestos hazards and prevent children and staff from harm.

In 1987, the EPA established the Asbestos-Containing Materials in Schools Rule. Nonprofit elementary and secondary schools had to inspect their buildings for asbestos hazards and create a management plan that was to be shared with parents and staff. Schools also had to provide training to school maintenance workers who were apt to work with or remove asbestos-containing materials.

AHERA sounds good in theory, but in 1991, the EPA evaluated AHERA’s implementation and found that asbestos management in many schools was inadequate.

As school administrations undergo turnover, records often lapse. The EPA found that many schools were lacking in the areas of periodic asbestos surveillance, annual notifications and response plans in the event of asbestos fibers were released.

Not only do administrations experience turnover, but maintenance staff does as well. Hiring untrained workers or unsafe contractors can have disastrous results.

AHERA regulations were paid no heed in Huntington Beach, Calif. during an asbestos removal procedure in 2014. That year, the Ocean View School District violated EPA regulations by exposing students and teachers to asbestos hazards as materials were unsafely removed.

The school district also violated the law by never warning parents and teachers that the asbestos hazards were going to be disturbed and removed.

As a result, one elementary school had at least two classroom that measured asbestos levels higher than federal safety standards allow. The Ocean View School District closed that school and two others while the asbestos-tainted areas were properly cleaned.

Parents have filed a lawsuit against the school district for failing to follow federal laws designed to protect their children from asbestos hazards.

Asbestos-related health problems can take 20 to 50 years before turning into cancer or mesothelioma, which affects the lining of the lungs and other organs. Small fibers become embedded in the body, where they irritate the tissues for years.