Officials knew about damaged asbestos at one city school for at least two years, but did nothing about it — conditions eventually deemed so problematic the building closed. Now, the Philadelphia School District’s inspector general is investigating.
“In the coming weeks and months, we anticipate more damaged asbestos will be identified," Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. said in an email to staff.
The investigation centers on environmental conditions at Building 21, a district school in West Oak Lane that was shut March 1 after a routine inspection showed the damaged asbestos, and Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr.District employees conducting a review of records in preparation for federally mandated inspections “confirmed gaps in the district’s historic recordkeeping,” Watlington wrote in an email sent to district staff Tuesday and obtained by The Inquirer.
The school system has nearly 300 buildings, the vast majority of which were constructed when asbestos was a common building material in floor tiles and pipe insulation, as well as some paint and cement products. Undamaged asbestos is not dangerous; when it becomes damaged, it can release potentially toxic fibers into the air.
Most inspections in the current cycle have been completed, Watlington said: 229 are finished, seven are in progress, and 59 remain “at some of our oldest and largest facilities,” the superintendent wrote. “Once completed in the coming months, we will have a more comprehensive record of each building’s asbestos conditions from which to be able to monitor changes over time. And the cycle of three-year inspections will begin anew.
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