COVID-19 Closures Accelerate Asbestos Abatement in Schools

The COVID-19 pandemic closed educational institutions everywhere, but it also opened a door to the acceleration of vitally important asbestos abatement in schools where children would have been in attendance. Business has been booming. “It does look like a lot of schools took advantage of it [the closing of facilities],” Brent Kynoch, managing director of the Environmental Information Association, told The Mesothelioma Center at Asbestos.com. “They may have had work contracted for later in the summer, but just said, ‘Let’s get started with it now, and get it done.’ They understood the importance. And that’s a positive.” The Environmental Information Association, located near Washington, D.C., was originally founded as the National Asbestos Council in 1983. Its members are involved in asbestos management and abatement in buildings across the country, and include contractors, scientists, training providers, equipment suppliers and regulators. Asbestos Abatement Vital in Schools Kynoch has met several times with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials working on the review of asbestos under the Toxic Substances Control Act. He has been a critic of its initial asbestos draft risk evaluation. “For schools, and all facilities, these projects are critically important, because every time an asbestos abatement is accomplished, it means we’ve taken asbestos out of reach of someone who may come into contact with it unknowingly,” he said. “When schools are ...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Source Type: news