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An article in The Pipe Dream, Binghamton (NY) University’s on-campus newspaper, reports that asbestos is common in many of the buildings located throughout this upstate New York institution of higher learning. But, says the article, officials aren’t worried.

That’s because the asbestos remains undisturbed and the college has an “asbestos coordinator” on campus that keeps tabs on the state of the dangerous material. As a matter of fact, the campus is the only with the State University of New York (SUNY) system to have such a person on staff.

“Students are never at risk,” said John Price, BU’s asbestos coordinator, because to prevent asbestos particles from entering the air, the University follows strict federal and state regulations and has been conducting asbestos removal projects. In addition, he says, all asbestos on campus is “sealed.”

“Either asbestos is meshed into the matrix of a building material or it is encapsulated,” said Stephen Endres, training coordinator and industrial hygienist for Binghamton’s Office of Environmental Health and Safety. “It’s painted or sprayed over, so basically all the fibers are locked in place.”

Because the university is home to a number of pre-1970s buildings, asbestos is commonplace. “It can be found in areas such as pipe insulation, floor and window caulking or sprayed on steel beams (fire proofing),” says Karen Fennie, Physical Facilities spokesperson.

State regulations require that asbestos be removed if it’s going to be disturbed by new construction or renovation. Otherwise, stresses Fennie, it’s no problem.

Price and his assistants make sure that any abatement being conducted on campus is done by licensed experts and that during the process, the building is properly sealed off and students, faculty, and staff are kept away from the area in question.

Currently, abatement is taking place at the Engineering Building and will continue at the Old Union after school lets out in May 2008. Workers take measures like sealing off work sites, showering before putting on their civilian clothes, and conducting air tests before, during and after removal, says Price.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 11th, 2007 at 9:43 am and is filed under New York, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.