Asbestos Illegally Removed at NY Elementary School
April 30th, 2007
The New York Department of Labor has charged a Massena elementary school with a number of code violations after unlicensed workers improperly removed asbestos from the school.
According to a report on NewsWatch 50 and the Watertown Daily Times, the clean-up of asbestos residue at Jefferson Elementary was done illegally. The situation came to the attention of officials when a worker reported the wrongdoing to the Department of Labor after the clean-up, which took place during the recent spring break.
U.S. Attorney General Glen Suddaby had ordered the school to perform the clean-up after an unusually high incidence of reports about asbestos around the school. According to the newspaper account, a softball-size chunk of asbestos was found on the loading dock in February after a custodian moved desks from a crawlspace, where asbestos was found on pipes. That prompted the school superintendent to contact Atlantic Testing, a company that tests air quality to determine the presence of asbestos. During testing, more asbestos was found in the boiler room. At that point, the superintendent ordered the team to remove all asbestos debris, even though they were not licensed.
The school has been charged by the Department of Labor with violations of Code 56-1.5, which states that only licensed abatement workers can handle asbestos. Other citations are possible.
