February 19th, 2008

After concern was raised by the County Superintendent, a school district building will have asbestos removed from it in the next year. Independent contractors recommended the removal, and the bid was approved.

An Alabama School District building will be undergoing asbestos abatement in the next year after independent consultants for the county recommended the removal. The asbestos was initially brought to the county’s attention by the Superintendent, who was concerned about the level of asbestos in the building. A bid was accepted from a Birmingham contractor and the work is slated to begin once school is out of session in the summer.

The removal of asbestos has to be completed by licensed professionals, making the work expensive and time consuming. Due to the risk of asbestos exposure, abatement normally has to take place in a vacant or sealed building. If non-licensed workers remove asbestos, the risk of asbestos exposure increases drastically. Cancer, including mesothelioma, emphysema and asbestosis have all been linked to asbestos exposure and each can be deadly. Since the building will need to have asbestos removed from multiple floors, the easiest way to complete the abatement is to do the work when the building is vacant.