EPA Asbestos Management: Tips and Suggestions

Tips and suggestions from the EPA Region 7’s Asbestos Management team for the Kansas, Missour, Nebraska and Tribal Regions.

1. Seek assistance from local community. Tap the knowledge and expertise of the local community. They have a vested interest as parents and taxpayers. This interest may also bring more dedicated assistance. Also, this assistance is usually free.

Also, local builders and contractors frequently have a detailed knowledge of past and current building and maintenance practices which may not be well documented in existing schematics or construction records.

It was a local volunteer who informed us of the use of transite asbestos in the construction of heating and ventilation ductwork after numerous consultants had reviewed the same material.

2. Use a phased approach based on risk of release, location, and to a certain extent on cost to plan abatement activities. Due to the widespread use of ACM, it is usually not economically feasible to remove all ACM from a school. In addition, abatement activities may create more of a hazard than would normally exist if the ACM were simply protected and maintained in good condition as is the case for ceramic floor tiles.

Therefore, a balanced approach based on the hazard posed by the ACM, its location, and to a lesser extent the cost of abatement should be used when planning asbestos repair or removal activities.

Courtesy of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency