Experts – Are They?
My son’s elementary school is undergoing massive renovations this month. They’re replacing windows, building a whole new playground, redoing paint jobs, prettying and tidying up whatever their allocated funds allow them to - and tearing down walls full of asbestos while the children are still in school.
Is it me or is this hugely irresponsible? My husband and I stopped by the principals office two days ago and asked them about the whole affair. The soccer mom slash secretary working there wisely replied that the experts working on the buildings assured them that removing asbestos while children are present on the school grounds is perfectly safe. Ha! Excuse me while I snort in disgust and get my temper under control…
How can this be safe? When we walked by the buildings in question, there were normal plastic sheets covering the windows. In the middle of each sheet is a giant hole out of which the air from inside the room is blowing (right toward the kindergarten wing). You can both hear and see this. The doors of the buildings are not sealed, either. And there’s a massive trailer outside, right next to the parking lot where about 200 kids walk by twice a day, full of whatever they are yanking off the walls inside the school. Said trailer, like the windows, is covered with no more than a plastic sheet secured by silver tape. It’s been windy as heck, mind you. Oh, and of course the main renovations are taking place in the building where the kids eat breakfast and lunch every day.
I cannot help but wonder how badly each of the women working in the school’s office failed chemistry in high school. Asbestos particles…dust…is not going to be held back by poorly secured plastic, and airing out a room filled with asbestos dust will cause damage if someone is exposed to it. But heck, no need to worry, righty? The company obviously wouldn’t lie just to secure a contract…
Thank God we have experts to tell us poor idiots what to think. And thank you, public school system, for giving a crap about our children!
*Zenfox now returns to digging out the number to the local investigative journalism team.
If you can find out who the abatement contractor is, you can do a lot of research. There are some very stiff penalties (including jail time) if asbestos is not properly handled by one of these contractors.
Feel free to contact me at marketing@quantem.com and maybe we can help.
Thank you,
Shawn Garza
Quantem Laboratories
http://quantemlabs.wordpress.com
http://www.quantem.com
One of those “experts” at my school decided to fix the heater (wall unit) in my without turning of the electricty. Oh, yes the room was full of students. This aforementioned expert set the unit on fire.
Lesson for the day: Get an education or you will grow up like that.