Pepper Pike, OH – Upgrades to the auditorium of Orange High School have turned up hazardous asbestos. According to school officials, asbestos was discovered in the ceiling.
Ed Holland, the Orange Superintendent, told the board members on Monday that the discovery of asbestos, and consequential abatement, has slowed work substantially on the 8800 sq. ft. auditorium. The structure is almost 40 years old.
The $2.1M upgrade project at the structure was initially expected to be finished by 1st of November. However, now the asbestos discovery has delayed the timeline by nearly 6 weeks, Holland said. The auditorium won’t be available for use till 1st of January, 2016, he said.
The space had been tested prior to the commencement of demolition. However, no asbestos had been detected then. Asbestos is a dangerous mineral which is known to cause cancer and several other devastating conditions.
Holland said they were really lucky that the dangerous mineral was sealed. Therefore, it never posed a risk to any of the students or staff members, he said. Asbestos was only found once the ceiling’s all other layers were removed at the time of demolition, Holland said.
According to Holland, the asbestos abatement would be over and the building would deem safe by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in time and staff and students can arrive there without any fear on 19th of August.
All works on the portion were stopped and an authorized contractor specialized in asbestos abatement was scheduled. The whole auditorium remains sealed while workers are removing asbestos and cleaning the air inside the structure using filters.
Though asbestos removal cost nearly $25,000, according to Holland, the project would remain on budget as the school district scrapped its plans of installing new heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems on the building roof.
Originally the workroom had been planned to be a location for the sound and light boards. However, as there would not be any access for physically handicapped students of the school to that space, designers decided to keep them in the auditorium and free up the space in the second floor for mechanical systems.
Fibers of asbestos enter the human body as a person breathes in or ingests them when they are airborne. These fibers become embedded in the respiratory tissues or tissues of the digestive system and cause disabling and deadly diseases including asbestosis, mesothelioma, lung cancer and pleural thickening.
