University’s Ruptured Pipe Rains Asbestos

January 29, 2007 - A steam pipe at Kansas State University’s outdated power plant ruptured earlier this week, causing asbestos insulation to rain down on everything below.

According to an account on 49ABCNews, as too much pressure built inside the old pipe, a gasket blew, resulting in the shower of asbestos.  The power plant, note university officials, was built in 1923 and was an accident waiting to happen.  Most say they expected an incident like this to occur sooner or later and weren’t surprised when they heard about the rupture.

“This is just part of the infrastructure that's outdated and in need of repairs," explained Facilities Maintenance Director Ed Heptig. 

Two days later, University President Jon Wefald was at the State Capitol pleading for help in fixing the well-worn facilities located throughout the campus. Ironically, he had previously scheduled a visit to discuss the University's dire maintenance backlog with lawmakers, according to the report.

The operators of the power plant sealed off the boiler room immediately and hoped to have clean-up finished in a few days.  In the meantime, because temperatures are cold, they were unable to make permanent repairs because it was impossible to turn off power to the rest of the campus, even for a short period of time.

Students are safe, note university officials, because they do not have access to the power plant or the area around it.