Before the demolition process can start, however, workers will remove the asbestos from the building and around the site to turn it into an asbestos-less school. The process is often very dangerous and can be prohibitively expensive. Workers who must handle asbestos must also be trained and certified by both federal and state environmental agencies in the proper techniques to move, clean up and dispose of the dangerous mineral dust. Crews must also wear protective breathing gear and special coveralls to shield them from asbestos exposure.
Inspectors with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality will also be on site to supervise the asbestos extraction and the building’s eventual demolition. The state agency must ensure that the asbestos concentration around the site after the demolition is within safe levels. The agency will also make sure that contractors follow strict guidelines to safeguard both worker safety and environmental standards at the site.
Numerous scientific studies over the last thirty years have established the link between asbestos exposure and lung diseases. The thin, glasslike asbestos fibers work their way through the lung tissue and embed themselves in the pleural mesothelium, the band of soft tissue surrounding the lungs. Eventually, the asbestos fibers can cause malignant mesothelioma, an aggressive and deadly form of cancer.
Since 2006, teachers have conducted classes at Henley Elementary in trailers and other portable buildings. School district officials closed the main building after the discovery of asbestos fibers in roofing tiles. In the meantime, county and state political leaders have debated the fate of the school. Local leaders wanted to preserve the site, which has served the area for four generations. However, they also recognized the limitations brought on by the current economic and political climate.
Classes will still be held in the portable buildings for the near future. With the old building scheduled for demolition, county leaders said that they have no plans to construct a new building on the same site. Greg Thede, Klamath County School District Superintendent, told the press that the funds for a new building would have to come from a bond issue. He also mentioned that, given the current situation, the voters would not be as receptive to such an issue.
Henley Elementary houses more than three hundred students in the small Oregon community. Students move from one building, or “module” to another between classes. The site holds twelve modules which house classrooms, a library, a music room and a computer lab. Students take their school lunches in the nearby high school cafeteria.
Despite efforts to transfer the students to other schools in the area, parents who attended the school emphasized their loyalty to the old site. One student could trace his Henley lineage back to his great-grandfather, who attended the school when it opened in 1929.
