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AF or By ROCKIE HUDSON Staff Writer Rowan County citizens who have been worrying about the asbestos problem in the county schools can rest easier now. School officials Tuesday night indicated they are go ing to give the green light to removing all asbestos from the school buildings this summer. A price tag of approx imately $500,000 is anticipated for the project. Board chairman Marcelle Williams and superintendent C. Wade Mobley both indicated they are in favor of meeting the problem head-on and getting it solved as soon as possible. There has been concern about the problem because of the possible link between asbestos and cancer. The other board members including Frank Patterson, who represents the South Rowan area, Carl Eagle, Jonathan Shores and Richard Messinger, also want done whatever is necessary to protect the health of the children and staff. Williams considers this a top priority matter and indicated that the approximately $700,000 in interest money the board has accumulated could be used for the work. People involved in recent inspections of the school buildings have indicated that there is no immediate health problem, but Williams said that he had learned more about the dangers of asbestos at an educational meeting and that the board should do whatever is necessary to solve the pro blem. He said ‘‘We don’t want to alarm anybody, but the problem is public knowledge.” He said he is in favor of getting it all out of the schools. If it is not all removed future mishaps, roof leaks and other situaions could damage areas where asbestos is located and the exposure problem would surface again. Because of this, previous discussions about encapsulating damaged areas have been discarded and no total removal concept is being adopted. Mobley said that Ron Horton of Standard Insulating Co. of Charlotte, a firm certified by the state to work with asbestos problems, had independently reached essentially the same conclusions as those reached by others who had looked at the problem. Previously George Robinson of McKnight Engineers in Charlotte checked all the schools to determine the extent of the problem, and state school sa and health officials have also looked at the situation building. Lawrence Eller, building supervisor for the county McCann noted that there is no problem at the new voca schools. Joe McCann, assistant superintendent, principals tional educational building at South. Architect James and others have been reviewing the situation. Mobley did Kluttz who has been working with the board on the pro not want to give the green light to a full scale removal until Klem has indicated that the cost of the work at South complete information was available to justify the expen- Rowan High School could cost as much as $400,000 p dnture of such a large sum of money. Because of the possible link to health problems, the federal Environmental Protection Agency had required that all elementary and secondary schools be inspected by May 27. Mobley noted previously that the schools were not mandated to do anything beyond the inspection. But school officials do not want any situation that could be a health hazard, or cause undue worry by people concerning the safety of their children. The most serious problem is at South Rowan High School where a substantial amount of asbestos was used when the school was built 21 years ago, before any concern was voic ed about its connection to health. It was a popular building material because it absorbs sound and has other desirable qualities. The problem exists in a number of sections of the There are 23 schools in the county system with some 100 major buildings. The other three high schools, Corridor- Lipe Junior High School at Landis and Cleveland Elemen tary School, also have the problem to some extent. About 100,000 square feet is involved at South. The other schools are in the 5,000-10,000 feet category. Mobley told the board that a considerable amount of red tape is involved in getting the project underway. Too much was involved to try to get the problem solved during the Christmas holidays and the general thinking now seems to be to get the work done this summer while students are out of the buildings. It is felt that the paperwork, bids and See SCHOOLS Page 6A
Newspaper Details
Kannapolis Daily Independent
Kannapolis, North Carolina, US
Wed, Jan 12, 1983
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
William G.
USA 13 Jul 2026
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Kannapolis Daily Independent
