Students Exposed to Asbestos at Washington Elementary School

Children attended cooking classes and music classes in a classroom at Washington Elementary School in Berkeley might have been exposed to asbestos for five months. Cal/OSHA (California Division of Occupational Safety and Health) identified the hazard in late June 2010. The room was closed down thereafter.

But, Washington Elementary School and district officials had been actually notified about the danger in late January. Darwin Greenwell, one of the teachers conducting music classes in the room, had reported the condition of the classroom to administrative authorities.

Greenwell has been teaching in the Berkeley Unified School District for the last five years. As most of the district’s music teachers, he also teaches at various elementary schools during a single school year, and this past year one of them was Washington Elementary. One morning in January, he found that all the carpet runners, which formerly had totally covered a long linoleum seam on the floor, had been removed. The linoleum seam had fallen apart, exposing floor tiles in a fairly deteriorated state.

Some other teachers also had noticed the problem, but didn’t report it. Greenwell identified the potential hazard. He spoke with the Superintendent’s office regarding the problem and wrote two letters to the Superintendent about the potential asbestos hazard. But no action was taken by any of the authorities, according to Greenwell.

Asbestos is a known carcinogen. Inhalation of asbestos fibers can result in severe respiratory problems and terminal diseases including cancer.

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