More asbestos than anticipated was found in areas of the Lower Merion Administration building in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. This highly toxic mineral is often found in older school buildings, as it was commonly used in construction materials throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. The use of asbestos in construction was finally banned in most products in the late 1970s, when it became common knowledge that asbestos is associated with the onset of serious respiratory illness, including mesothelioma, a rare cancer of the protective lining of the lungs, heart, chest and abdomen.
Asbestos has thus far been found in the building’s ceiling, but because of the amount, School Board Directors have now approved the more than doubling of costs associated with the oversight of the building’s asbestos abatement. The original contract was for $66,600, but now $97,400 is being added to the project budget.
“Apparently, there was asbestos that was left over from an earlier abatement effort we think may have been in the ‘80s all of the way in the attic,” explained director of operations for Lower Merion, Pat Guinnane.
The additional asbestos was discovered in the upper section, which functions as a crawlspace that gives workers access to pipes and air conditioning systems. If this asbestos is not removed, both administration workers, as well as plumbers and HVAC service staff, are at risk of asbestos exposure, which can later lead to the onset of malignant mesothelioma, a disease for which there is no cure and that is often diagnosed in its later stages.