As part of a settlement with the Maricopa County Air Quality Department for an asbestos violation, ASU has begun offering seminars about asbestos regulations and awareness.
After the 2006 violation, the county mandated ASU to spend $52,000 to sponsor a series of seminars on handling asbestos. The first seminar took place last week, and another is scheduled for Monday.
In the incident, the floor tiles in a lounge in the basement of the Memorial Union were uncovered, exposing an extensive amount of asbestos for several hours.
ASU denied all responsibility in the incident, saying that a contractor removed more than 5,000 square feet of tile without permission.
Since the incident, ASU Environmental Health and Safety has hired three new officers, one of whom will specifically monitor all activity and contracting during any asbestos-abatement projects, University spokeswoman Terri Shafer said.
Environmental Health and Safety also updated existing procedures for dealing with asbestos and added additional inspection requirements, Shafer said.
Currently, the University isn’t doing any renovation that could disturb asbestos and cause it to become airborne, she said.
The series of five classes, one at each of ASU’s four campuses and one at the ASU Research Park, are intended to educate the ASU community and the public about asbestos regulations in Maricopa County, Associate Director of Environmental Health and Safety Robert Ott said.
Local asbestos experts and regulators are presenting the free classes in partnership with the Environmental Information Association and the Del E. Webb School of Construction.
“Overall, the classes are meant to give participants an overview of asbestos policies throughout the county,” Ott said. “Many people aren’t aware of the specific guidelines.”
Though he said the association was not expecting a certain number of participants, it has been pleased with the turnout so far.
More than 100 people attended the first two classes — one at the Polytechnic campus and last week at the Tempe campus.
Ott said all state-approved contractors were notified of the classes and that many have attended.
“People have attended from every group we reached out to — students, public, contractors, staff,” Ott said.
Since there is no limit to enrollment, Ott said he hopes the classes can reach as many people as possible.
Though ASU does not have any plans to immediately renovate buildings that are suspected to contain asbestos, a 1991 inventory of the Tempe campus points to more than 100 buildings on campus that likely contain the mineral fiber.
Throughout the past year, some minor construction on ASU’s Tempe campus has lead to asbestos exposure, though nothing as major as the 2006 incident.
Removal of mold from Best Hall in late 2007 and early 2008 disturbed asbestos in the building material of the 1956 structure.
Per Maricopa County guidelines, contractors removed the asbestos manually under the direction of ASU environmental safety officials.
Reach the reporter at tessa.muggeridge@asu.edu.
