Herald & lantern 17 October '84 <. * -jtj W 1 1 '

Asbestos in Schools — New Rules? NJSBA Meets Sat. on NJEA Suit

MT. HOLLY - New Jersey School Board Association (NJSBA) officials will conduct special meetings here Sahirday about the recent New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) lawsuit against 160 state school districts on employes' exposure to asbestos. Sessions from 1-5 p.m. will be held for school board members, administrators and district solicitors at Burlington County Vocation School, three minutes from N.J. Turnpike Exit 5. Meetings will consist of a session for board attorney's, conducted by the NJSBA -- Legal Department, to develop strategies to respond to the union's suit. At the same time, school * board , members and administrators will attend a separate program to V learn more about the union's litigation, \the association's and local

boards' previous efforts, and technical aspects of asbestos removal. Attendance at the meeting is free. Registration is not required. However, to facilitate planning, the association requests school officials notify the NJSBA Communications Department at 695-7600, Ext. 241 of plans to attend the meeting. •

ASBESTOS WAS removed recently from Ocean City and Wildwood high schools and Glenwood Avenue Elementary School, Wildwood, but Middle Township High S&ool, Margaret Mace Elementary School in North Wildwood, Lower Township Consolidated and Maud Abrams Elementary schools in Cold Spring still contain the cancer-causing insulation. Gov. Thomas Kean this month anr.nnn<fd a comprehensive state policy to deal with asbestos in schools and other public buildings which, he said, would give New Jersey the strictest airborne asbestos standards in the nation. < The standards, I unwrapped at a State < House news conference, i are part of the interim i report of the New Jersey s Asbestos Policy i ' Committee, appointed by ] Kean in January and i composed 0f 3

representatives of ten state-level departments. Guidelines, to be put into practice "as soon as possible," will establish the state Department of Health as the "lead agency" for coordinating asbestos abatement activities and place responsibility for inspection and issuing of certificates of occupancy with the state Department of Community Affairs. Up to now, the state education department handled inspection and approved occupancy of public schools following asbestos removal projects. The report establishes a "maximum permissible air level of asbestos in occupied areas" of 100 nanograms (one billionth of a gram) par cubic meter. That standard, according to Kean, 'is far stricter than the current federal standard for workplaces — actually 660 times stricter." Moreover, it is time^ more stringent

n tli ji standards previously applied to the schools and 0 33 times stricter than those is used to determine the e reopening of schools that h under -went asbestos r removal projects last e , summer. d Although based on the r current scientific data, if "the standard will be y reviewed within one year to it make sure it is appropriate," said Kean. e USING THE 100t nanogram standard as a 1 basis. the committee f outlined an "Asbestos I Evaluation Decision Protocol" to guide state i and local officials in e identifying asbestos, l testing materials and air 9 samples, and finally i determining a remedy for : the problem. Based on the information r obtained through the t protocol, that course of action could take the form i of repair, enclosure or, ; encapsulation, removal — t or leaving the material as is. Explained Richard Goldstein, state commissioner of health and chairman of the committee: "In the past, the pressure placed on school boards hhs all too often resulted in the * removal of asbestos which posed no immediate health hazard, but required substantial expenditures. The key problem was the absepce of standards to determine what action was necessary. And, unfortunately, unnecessary removal can post more of a risk than if the asbestos was left untouched." According to the report, low-level exposure to asbestos — such as. may occur in schools and offices — poses an extremely low health risk. The committee found no definitive data on, and no documented cases ; of lung cancer from low- i

level non-occupational expoosure to asbestos "It will be up to the local school board to develop the ' remediation "plan," Goldstein said later. "(However), »* the Department of Health will draw up guidelines to develop (and recommend to the board) the remedial plan and the Department of Community Affairs will be on site where (the work) is done." THE REPORT ALSO recommended substantial upgrading of training for asbestos removers and contractors. Under the guidelines, workers would undergo a 32-hour training course overseen by the health department (current course length is four hours) and complete a test prior to certification. In addition, the report endorsed the governor's proposed modifications to an Assembly bill that would govern licensing and monitoring of removers and protective equipment Under the measure, A-1820 (Doria) as conditionally , vetoed by Kean. only contractors licensed by the Department of Labor could conduct removal work. The measure, with - the governor's recommendations, passed the Assembly in September and is now awaiting action in the Senate. In a prepared statement, Kean also centered attention on how the new policy related to the earlier controversy over asbestos removal projects in the schools this summer. A STATE PUBLIC ADVOCATE'S report in late August criticized the asbestos removal projects and the state education department's coordination •f the efforts. Nearly 100 of the 355 schools which < conducted > removal s projects were in danger of i not opening on time. I

However, a last-minute push by state officials to inspect the sites whittled ' down that number to a handful. Said Kean: "The < Asbestos Policy Committee) report recommends that schools be closed when asbestos removal work is in „ progress. This confirms' my belief that education commissioner Cooperman was wise to adopt this policy this fall — even though EPA regulations did not require that schools be closed ... only five schools in the entire state were delayed in their reopenings because of asbestos removal. And among those five, the longest delay ... „ was 72 hours." In response to questions from reporters that the new guidelines might prevent "rush jobs" by local districts, Kean noted that this fall the schools were "caught by surprise" by the state's policy that entire buildings remain closed during removal projects. As an example, he ' pointed out that, in the past, if asbestos were removed from the library, school officials could seal off that section of the building but open the remainder of the school This Was not the case this fall. . and it caused confusion among local districts involved in abatement activities. NJSBA HAS LONG pressed for state standards and coordinaton of school asbestos removal projects, and reiterated that goal during the fall's asbestos crisis. Approximately 56 school districts have received state approval for asbestos removal projects, this fall.

3-Piece Suit STRATHMERE — Aramingo Water Company, Upper Township Committee and the state Department of Environmental Protection are named as defendants in a suit filed by the Strathmere Improvement Association and scheduled for Superior Court action Friday. Filed in Trenton two months ago, j the suit asks the court to have problem - Y plagued Aramingo declare bankruptcy, / the township to operated the utility and the DEP to collect thousands in penalties 1 \ from the municipality. i

59 of 89 I VILLAS — Lower Township Manager ' James R. Stump told township councilmen Monday that 59 and 89 line * items in the 1964 municipal budget have exceeded expected expenditures for the year to date — 75 percent of their projected totals. Department heads, be said, will be instructed to trim their ^ spending. Proposed department expenditures for next year's budget. Stump reported, are due next month while his budget recommendations will be presented in December. Teen Charged With Rape OCEAN CITY — Resort police arrested a 17-year-old city youth Thursday for the early morning rape Aug. 13 of woman in a third-flow Third Street residence. Charged with aggravated sexual assault, burglary to commit a crime, unlawful use of a dangerous weapon and making terroristic threats, the youth was transferred from the county jail, to the Cumberland County Detention Center. He be tried as an adult, police said.

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