Asbestos Found in Bozeman High School in Montana
Yet another school is being affected by the presence of asbestos in it’s building material.
School officials have closed part of Bozeman High School in Montana after discovering pieces of asbestos roofing material in some of it’s classrooms. Superintendent Kirk Miller says the material fell into an art room and custodial garage-storage room while a new roof was being installed as part of a renovation project. Although some of the samples were found to contain a small percentage of asbestos, the material was found to be non-friable. This means that it wouldn’t normally release asbestos fibers into the air.
Asbestos is a mineral fiber that was once used widely in construction but is now known for long term risk of causing cancer and fatal lung scarring, such as pleural malignant mesothelioma. Intact, undisturbed asbestos-containing materials generally do not pose a health risk. These materials may become hazardous and pose increased risk if they are damaged, are disturbed in some manner, or deteriorate over time and release asbestos fibers into building air. Since there was some disturbance in roofing material that was determined to contain asbestos, the school district has closed the rooms and hired a cleanup firm to eliminate any risk.
