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September 21, 2013
Poteet, Texas - A former teacher and long-time patron of the Poteet Public Library in Poteet, Texas thought she spied something unusual sticking out from the floor tiles when she made a visit to the facility in mid August. In fact, she thought it looked like asbestos, so she reported her suspicions to the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS). Turned out Carol Merchant had a good eye for identifying the toxic material.
An article in the Pleasanton Express reports that Ruth Murray of the TDSHS Asbestos Program visited the Poteet Library after Merchant’s call and after taking photos and reviewing old records, it was discovered that 3 percent chrysotile asbestos was present in the brown floor tiles as well as the mastic that holds them to the floor. Merchant was concerned that the floor tiles were dirty and what appeared to be asbestos was “shredding, peeling and powdering”, the article reports. Damaged asbestos can cause fibers to become airborne where they can be inhaled, creating the potential for those exposed to develop diseases like mesothelioma.
After the inspection Murray sent an email to Poteet City Administrator Scott Moore requesting that he schedule a new survey of the asbestos situation and that he submit an asbestos management report to her department within 90 days. However, when Carol Merchant decided to follow up on the situation on her own the following Monday, she discovered that someone had come in and cleaned the tiles, hence rendering the new survey inaccurate.
Merchant believes the asbestos clean-up was handled improperly. According to The Texas Department of State Health Services Asbestos Regulatory Regulations, issued February 15, 2011, “special precautions are required to remove tile and mastic that contains over 1% asbestos. Those special precautions prohibit contractors from using methods that would crumble, pulverize, or otherwise break up materials containing asbestos into small pieces.”
But another assessment done later in the month did indeed indicate that the City of Poteet should consider removing the offending tiles and adhesive. Poteet City Administrator Scott Moore said they are beginning to gather estimates from asbestos contractors interested in completing the work.
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