Asbestos being removed from elementary school

BY VINCENT TODARO
Staff Writer

EAST BRUNSWICK - Asbestos found during ongoing construction at the Central Elementary School, Cranbury Road, is being removed at times when school is not in session, officials said.

The material has been located in several areas of the school and at Lawrence Brook Elementary School during the district's ongoing additions and renovations project. Professional crews in asbestos abatement have been removing the material at various times when students are not present, according to Patricia LaDuca, coordinator of community relations and programs for the district.

One issue the district had to deal with was coordinating the asbestos abatement with the work being done by the general contractor. The Board of Education recently approved a change order enabling the general contractor to work directly with the asbestos abatement company to avoid any time conflicts.

School Business Administrator Bernardo Giuliana said the scheduling of work at Central involved juggling several different schedules.

"So rather than contract with the asbestos abatement ourselves, we do it through the general contractor," he said. "We don't want one contractor to hold us up. Now it becomes the general contractor's responsibility."

Much of the asbestos abatement has already taken place at Central, though some sections still required the work as of last week.

Abatement was done in one section during winter break, and in another during the weekend before Martin Luther King Day, Giuliana said.

Asbestos material of a friable nature was found during the removal of pipe insulation at Central. This type is removed by hand, little by little.

The nonfriable type is typically found in floor tiles.

LaDuca said the work is highly regulated by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and is also guided by state regulations "with totally experienced contractors and professionals."

Each time a new part of Central School opens up, students from an old section move in. This enables workers to address the asbestos in the section just vacated.

Central is East Brunswick's oldest school, at 56 years old. Asbestos material was commonly used to insulate ceilings and plumbing pipes in the 1950s and '60s.

The school district also had asbestos removed from Bowne-Munro Elementary School, Main Street, last summer after it was found in piping insulation in the boiler room, hallway ceiling and walls separating classrooms. The material dated back to the school's original construction in the late 1950s.