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December 09, 2013
Binghamton, New York - Over the past four months, asbestos has been found in several Binghamton city schools. The first discovery was made in August, when airborne asbestos was detected in Calvin Coolidge Elementary School, which closed for four months as a result. Two months later, asbestos turned up in a pre-kindergarten classroom in Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School, and most recently, samples taken in two locations at West Middle School and in a crawlspace at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School yielded positive results for the presence of asbestos.
Although the last two findings were in areas of the schools not accessible to students and faculty, the sections that tested positive were sealed off. However, unlike Calvin Coolidge Elementary School, West Middle and Woodrow Wilson have remained open. The school district sent home letters to notify parents and is following all New York State and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) protocols.
Asbestos in any public structure is problematic, but its discovery in schools is particularly troubling, especially in light of the recent story out of the United Kingdom, in which a teacher died from mesothelioma, a result of asbestos in her school’s walls.
With asbestos—and, by extension, mesothelioma—being such a hot-button issue, many people are aware of asbestos’s hazardous nature, and it’s becoming more common for it to be identified and treated with the appropriate response.
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