Asbestos Removal Project Planned for Wahpeton, MN School

Like the Wahpeton, MN School District, schools throughout the nation must carefully consider renovations to district buildings due to the many asbestos products used in the construction of aging school buildings.

Exposure to the dangerous mineral is known to cause a number of very serious lung diseases. If your family is facing a loved one’s diagnosis with an asbestos-related illness, please complete the form on this page for more information about your legal options to file an asbestos claim.

In February 2010, the Wahpeton School Board approved a bid submitted by an area asbestos contractor to perform asbestos abatement at the district’s senior high school.

The anticipated project costs of $50,000 to remove the asbestos-containing flooring and installing the new floor in the 45-year old building will be covered by federal stimulus funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The project, which is scheduled to begin in June 2010, is expected to take approximately 12 days.

The district is currently soliciting bids for a contractor to install the new flooring once the abatement project is complete. The district expects that the project will be complete by the end of the district’s summer vacation.

Asbestos Materials in Schools
Like the Wahpeton Senior High School, virtually every school building constructed prior to the 1970s was built using a number of asbestos-containing materials (ACM). Typically, asbestos was used in the following areas of school buildings:

Boiler rooms and the boilers themselves were often protected by asbestos-containing insulation materials.

Asbestos tape and other ACM insulation was wrapped on heating pipes that travel through the hallways, stairwells, classrooms and ceilings in school buildings, including radiators that are found in schools heated by steam.

Asbestos containing floor tiles, glue mastics and asbestos-containing linoleum were typically used as flooring materials.

Ceiling tiles, in particular the acoustic “popcorn” ceiling materials, contained asbestos.

Asbestos mastics were often used to apply wall and floor tiles in school cafeterias, kitchens, bathrooms, gyms and locker rooms.

Asbestos was added to plaster that was applied on the walls in classrooms and hallways. In addition, asbestos was added to texture paint and vinyl wallpaper.

Asbestos Health Risks High for School Teachers
The frequency with which ACM was used in older school buildings caused long-tenured school teachers and staff members to face almost daily exposure to asbestos dusts and fibers. As a result, many teachers have developed mesothelioma, asbestos lung cancer or asbestosis that was caused by occupational exposure to the dangerous carcinogen (cancer causing material).

Tragically, government statistics from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) reveal that after the men and women employed in industries that face what would be considered “traditional” asbestos exposure (carpenters, construction workers, factory workers, etc.), school teacher face the highest asbestos disease diagnosis rates in the U.S.

How Weitz & Luxenberg Can Help
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease, our lawyers may be able to help you to seek justice for your illness and file a lawsuit on your behalf.

Please complete the form on this page for a free and confidential review of your potential asbestos lawsuit or request a free copy of our asbestos sourcebook. A Weitz & Luxenberg representative will contact you as soon as possible.

Call us Toll-Free800-476-6070

Asbestos Removal Project Planned for Wahpeton, MN School

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800-476-6070