SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Last of Accessible Asbestos Removed
The last traces of asbestos in areas accessible to employees has been removed from Capistrano Unified School District buildings, officials said.
Penhall Environmental Services recently completed removing the asbestos from six elementary schools--Del Obispo, Crown Valley, Las Palmas, Ole Hanson, Palisades and San Juan--and San Clemente High School at a cost of $44,520.
The asbestos was in utility rooms and other areas that were not accessible to children but could have posed a danger to employees, officials said.
Dan Crawford, the district’s director of maintenance, said the only asbestos remaining in district schools is in enclosed, inaccessible areas.
Asbestos is a fibrous material used as insulation and a fire retardant in construction primarily in the 1940s through the 1960s. Exposure to airborne asbestos has been linked to lung cancer.
Crawford said the district has spent more than $75,000 in the last four years on asbestos removal.
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