WTF?! Asbestos Under “Throw Rugs” at Pearson School in CT?

December 24th, 2010. By AbiK

No, I’m not being alarmist here, but I’m wondering what’s going on at Pearson Middle School in Winsted, CT. We just reported an update on the asbestos situation at the school in our weekly Asbestos News Roundup—seems that earlier this month, the consultants who’ve been involved with the air quality studies in the school—ie, the folks who are conducting tests for asbestos in the air and advising on the toxicity (or not) of the situation, Mystic Air Quality Consultants, Inc. of Groton—sent a letter to town officials. Apparently the recommendation in the letter, as reported by rep-am.com, was that:

“…all floor tile and mastics in the entire school, totaling 68,000 square feet, be removed and replaced. The floor tiles have exceeded their life expectancy and have failed in a number of locations. Two classrooms have been sealed off until the asbestos can be abated and throw rugs have been used to cover damaged tiles in a number of areas, which is not an acceptable method of abatement, the consultant said.”

Ok, sounds kinda bad, no? Seriously, if you’re a parent of a child attending Pearson Middle School, well, you’d be a tad bit concerned, right? So where is the outrage? Where is the public outcry? There isn’t much evidence of any online. But in all fairness, there isn’t much online about the situation period.

A visit to the Winchester Public Schools website, with a search for the keyword “asbestos” yields nothing. You’d think with the above statements coming from the air quality inspectors that there would be SOME mention, right? Nope. To read anything about it, you have to Google it and find it in various pdf doc’s that are buried somewhere on the Winchester schools’ site.

And that brings up another interesting document. The one that Mystic Air Quality sent to Greg Delaney at Winchester Schools on September 10, 2010. This is what that missive states:

“As requested, ambient air samples were conducted and collected at the site mentioned above on September 9, 2010. The samples were taken as part of an ongoing Asbestos Management Plan requirement to monitor the state of ever-increasing amount of damaged floor tile in the building. Please see the management plan for details concerning response action for some areas ranging from keeping the areas covered with carpet and taped down to areas which are planned for abatement as soon as possible.

“Specifically, a visual inspection of affected areas revealed no visible asbestos dust or debris on carpeted areas and the sealed areas planned for abatement are still isolated and critical barriers are installed.

“Ambient air samples were take throughout the building while occupied and analyzed by phase contrast microscopy at the site. The enclosed form contains the results of the analysis. The analytical results of the samples were all below the concentration of 0.010 fibers per cubic centimeter of air allowed to permit re-occupancy following an abatement as well as below the permissible exposure for asbestos.”

Sounded like the situation was under control back in September—not ideal, but under control with a recommendation that asbestos abatement be done asap. Of course, the cleaning fanatic in me wonders whether any asbestos dust would appear once any of the carpet involved in the coverup of the asbestos were vacuumed. It’s an image I can’t get out of my mind as I think of the school system’s night cleaning crews coming in.

Given the above, one has to wonder why Mystic Air Quality is now sending a letter to town officials on December 10th that basically sounds like a combination of a fair warning that the school system has postponed abatement long enough now to warrant cause for concern over the deteriorating floor tiles, along with perhaps some “CYA” on the part of Mystic.

Regardless, as a parent, I’d want answers. And I’m hoping that several letters have been sent home to parents with continual updates on the situation—as well as public meetings specifically about the asbestos situation for parents to get answers. It would not be good enough for me to hear that some monies need to be earmarked in next year’s budget for asbestos abatement when presently there are some area rugs holding down worn tiles that are beginning to expose asbestos. I sure as hell don’t want my kids going to school in that kind of environment simply because of a need to wait for when the budget permits…the health and safety of our kids—and their teachers, school support staff & administration—needs to come first.

Tags: Asbestos, Asbestos Abatement, asbestos_mesothelioma, Pearson Middle School, Winstead CT

This was posted on Friday, December 24th, 2010 at 12:41 pm and is filed under Asbestos Mesothelioma, Emerging Issues . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.