Indiana University Removing Asbestos from Dorms
Officials at Indiana University report that they hope to have dangerous asbestos removed from all dormitory buildings by 2012, a much quicker timetable than first planned.
According to an article in the Indiana Daily Student (IDS), the university’s on-campus newspaper, plans to remove asbestos came to fruition in 2005 after the newspaper reported damaged asbestos in several residence halls. University officials thought it would take up to 10 years to complete the abatement but credits the newspaper for getting the ball rolling.
Residential Programs and Services Executive Director Pat Connor said: “When all’s said and done, by 2012 it’s safe to say that none of the residential buildings will have asbestos in the environment, and that’s kind of what we pledged when we responded to the IDS articles.”
In the meantime, he stresses, the college has improved their asbestos management program, including communication between inspectors and university higher-ups.
“Before 2005, there weren’t regular inspections of the asbestos going on, at least in all of the buildings,” said Environmental Health and Safety Management Acting Director Michael Jenson. “Also, the big thing that happened is we started talking with different groups on campus a lot more about asbestos and where it is, what we’re doing about it.”
Because most of the buildings on the Bloomington campus were built before 1980, most contain asbestos in some form or another. Abatement is being carried out by licensed professionals and during the procedures proper safety precautions will be in place so that no one is at risk, university officials stressed.
