EPA settles with select Maryland schools over asbestos management
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently settled cases against three Maryland schools and one Maryland school district for violating the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA). The settlement is intended to ensure that asbestos management procedures in the schools are safe.
The AHERA sets requirements for schools to inspect and manage asbestos on school property. The schools alleged violations included failure to inspect and include all school buildings in the asbestos management plan. The also failed to submit the required plan, failed to notify parents and staff of the plan annually as required and failed to conduct reinspections of asbestos-containing materials every three years. These reinspections are required to uncover deterioration in the products that could allow asbestos fibers to become airborne.
The schools have agreed to comply with the AHERA requirements, and the EPA does not believe that anyone was exposed to asbestos because of the cited violations. Exposure to asbestos can cause serious illnesses like mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis; but these diseases can take decades to manifest.
The schools involved are St. Timothy’s School in Stevenson, First English Evangelical Lutheran Church in Baltimore, Saint Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kingsville and the Dorchester County Public School District.
For the full story, go to the EPA Press Release.
