Massachusetts School District Cited for Asbestos Violations

July 24, 2006 - The Massachusetts state Division for Occupational Safety (DOS) has cited the Saugus School District for a large number of asbestos-related violations.

According to a report printed in the Saugus Advertiser, the district was cited for noncompliance for violations observed at five schools pertaining to asbestos.  While many of the violations involved documentation issues, other concerns may have directly affected those who worked or attended school in the buildings.  The schools were inspected after a teacher at one elementary school, Lyndhurst, was found to have trace amounts of asbestos in her lungs.

A representative of the district indicated that problems varied.  For example, one elementary school was cited because there was no signage in the boiler room indicating the presence of asbestos.  The local high school was ordered to prioritize the clean-up of a water-damaged floor where the ruined tiles contain asbestos. 

The newspaper article reports that the majority of the violations highlighted by DOS involved all of the schools, not just one in particular. Specifically, the violations cited in the DOS report included:

1. not designating a person to ensure all Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act. (AHERA) requirements are implemented;
2. not maintaining records in a centralized location in school administration offices;
3. not providing a description of methods used for asbestos response actions; and
4. not providing documentation that surveillance was performed at least once every six months in each school that is assumed to contain asbestos.

Failure to comply, reports the article, could result in enforcement action by the Environmental Protection Agency.