Exposed Asbestos in Ceiling Forces Closure of Classroom

A leak in a classroom at Danube Avenue Elementary School exposed asbestos in ceiling tiles, prompting school officials to shut down the room this week to clean up the carcinogenic fibers.

Heavy rainfall caused the leak two weeks ago, Danube Principal Rosemary Enzer said, but the asbestos was not discovered until Monday.

For all but a day or two in the last two weeks, however, the third-graders who normally occupy the classroom had been displaced because of the moisture, Enzer said.

Cleanup of the asbestos will begin today and the classroom should reopen by Monday, Enzer said.

The other five classrooms in the building were evacuated after the asbestos was discovered, but tests of the air in those rooms found no contamination, she said.

Enzer sent the parents of Danube’s 420 students a letter about the asbestos exposure and scheduled a meeting to answer any questions they had.

The last asbestos exposure at Danube followed the 1994 Northridge earthquake, she said.

Asbestos, which was used before 1973 as a fire retardant in ceilings and floor tiles, is generally considered safe unless the fibers are released into the air.

Several local schools have had to temporarily close to clean up asbestos contamination caused by construction, earthquakes and other movement.