Handle with extreme caution: Asbestos removed in WCC kitchen renovations
Elizabeth Ross
Managing Editor
eross4@wccnet.edu Workers renovating the Culinary Arts kitchen encountered potentially dangerous asbestos, used as insulation in several of the college’s older buildings. But officials say this is routine and posed no danger. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), asbestos has been used in numerous building materials. Exposure to asbestos in the air “may cause serious lung diseases including asbestosis, lung cancer, or mesothelioma,” according to the agency. “The campus was built at a time when asbestos was used as insulation, and so every renovation project, we run into asbestos,” said Washtenaw Community College President Larry Whitworth. “We follow all of the regulations regarding asbestos. We treat this very, very seriously. But getting rid of it is part of the whole renovation process.” The EPA said that having asbestos in schools is “not necessarily” dangerous. “Undamaged asbestos that is properly managed in place poses little health risk to students or teachers,” the EPA said. “We test any area we go in,” said Damon Flowers, associate vice president of Facilities Development and Operations. “If you know the age of the building, you know if there’s asbestos.” Flowers said that the Gunder Myran (GM) and Business Education (BE) buildings do not have asbestos present, but older buildings like the Student Center (SC), Technical and Industrial (TI) building and the Crane Liberal Arts and Science (LA) building do. Flowers said the college follows procedures mandated by the state when dealing with asbestos. “These are things we have to deal with as part of what we do,” Flowers said. To learn more about asbestos, visit: http://epa.gov
