Asbestos Risk Closes East L.A. School
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Los Angeles school officials found potentially hazardous asbestos at Hammel Street Elementary School in East Los Angeles Tuesday afternoon and ordered the school closed today.
William Panos, director of the district’s environmental health and safety branch, said his staff will supervise a cleanup of two buildings where construction work dislodged asbestos fibers.
Asbestos is considered harmless when encased in building materials, but can cause cancer if it becomes airborne. Fibers can lodge in the lungs where they remain permanently.
Panos said he expects the cleanup to take two days, allowing the school to reopen Friday.
He said the district discovered the problem when the contractor alerted safety officials. Inspectors determined that the work had disturbed fireproofing material and wallboard that both contain asbestos.
Hammel is the fourth district school to be closed because of asbestos hazards since last fall.
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