Asbestos in the classrooms in Tydings Hall will be the next target in removal of the mineral across the campus.
Starting Nov. 7, contractors will begin a $64,500 project to remove asbestos from 500 feet of pipe insulation and the insulation surrounding two heating tanks. While students don’t face health risks from being in a building with asbestos, the project will help maintenance workers who often work in those areas, officials said.
The work, which is scheduled to last until March 9, 2009, will be done in phases at night and on weekends to limit the amount of interruption of activities in the building.
The project is one of eight or nine this fiscal year to remove asbestos from parts of the campus, said Chris Benas, assistant director of occupational safety and health.
“It’s going to be a very good year for the university,” Benas said.
The state endowed more than $1 million to the university for asbestos removal projects this year, and some of the more notable projects include pipe insulation in the physics building, ceiling tiles in the Benjamin Building and various projects in H.J. Patterson Hall.
The projects are a “means to proactively support the maintenance tasks,” Benas said. “They will facilitate the ongoing and future maintenance.”
Because of the prevalence of asbestos across the campus, maintenance workers must check an online asbestos inventory before doing repair work in the older buildings, Benas said. If there is any asbestos in that building, maintenance must first hire a contractor to remove the asbestos at night before the repair work can be done by Facilities Management staff the next day, Baker said.
The lighting in the Benjamin Building is one example of the hassle caused by asbestos. Benas said the health and safety risks for Facilities Management staff have prevented the department from fixing the lights hanging from the ceiling tiles, which are plagued with asbestos.
The process adds cost and inconvenience to repairs needed on the campus, and in this case it has prevented maintenance, Benas said.
Maryland state law requires notifications to inform occupants of the asbestos work. Benas said Facilities Management has designated an employee to answer questions from concerned students, faculty and staff, which he said was common in past campus projects.
Though the sign on the back door of Tydings Hall has been posted since Oct. 16, some students said they didn’t pay attention to the notice.
Usman Khan, a senior communication and government and politics major, said he isn’t too worried, even though he has four classes in Tydings. When one of Khan’s old dorm buildings was found to have asbestos in it, he was assured there were no health risks associated with simply being in a building with asbestos in it.
He was, however, surprised the university hasn’t done a better job removing the asbestos with the amount of funding it receives.
“With asbestos as bad as it is, you would think it would be something they would try to cut out sooner,” Khan said.
Jack Baker, Facilities’ director of operations and maintenance, said the department coordinates asbestos removal about once or twice a month for the safety of employees.
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