The use of asbestos, a mineral fiber usually found in construction materials, is a topic stirring emotions at Eastern Michigan University.
Ellen Bernard, EMU’s Environmental Health and Safety Specialist in Snow Health Center thinks asbestos is just part of life. When questioned about whether or not there was, in fact, asbestos in the building Bernard dismissed the subject.
“So? There is asbestos in a whole lot of buildings on this campus,” Bernard said.
She then went on to say she would not discuss asbestos and walked away.
Answers like Bernard’s haven’t eased any fear in Pittman residents who have noticed the yellow asbestos ‘caution tape.’
Pittman Hall resident Carly Gantt, an aviation management major, asked two of Pittman Hall’s residential advisors questions about the tape. Gantt was told to wait it out, and that the asbestos problem is on the same level as not having hot water or heat.
“I was told that the tape was put up as a precaution while fixing a pipe that burst,” said Gantt, who dealt with no building heat and unreliable water temperatures for about three weeks along with many other residents. “That didn’t make me feel very safe or comfortable.”
History major Justin Langel said he has seen workers dressed in protective coveralls and breathing masks. Workers didn’t offer Langel many solutions after he inquired about the problem either.
Langel said he was told, “The asbestos is part of life, and we are going to have to live with it.”
But knowing the dangers of asbestos and that the material remains in many campus buildings, both Langel and Gantt said they’re irritated at the way housing staff brushed their concerns off so easily.
Same goes for criminal justice major Max Carson, another resident of Pittman. Carson recently found out he is living in an area where there is potentially harmful asbestos. This upset him.
“I am really pissed that we were not informed and want the university to find a way to compensate us,” Carson said.
Geoff Larcom, executive director of media relations at EMU, stressed that students come first. There is no question whether the university would notify students if their health was at risk.
There was concern over a leaking pipe in Pittman as well. Some were worried it would disturb asbestos in the
building. However, the pipe has not evolved into a full-fledged issue yet.
Since the pipe is located in a hallway and not in a student residence hall, students were not notified. If the pipe was in a student’s room, on the other hand, Kathryn Willhoff, Director of Environmental Health and Safety, said the university would have notified said student. To Willhoff, students deserve necessary precaution, especially in cases dealing with asbestos danger.
“I think that new procedures need to be implemented when it comes to asbestos,” Willhoff said. “There aren’t any laws that require the university to notify students of asbestos in buildings, but I think that we need to meet with Brian Fitzgerald from housing to make these changes, and I will be talking to him. My department is in charge of the right to know law, which is basic hazardous awareness safety for student employees.”
Although residents living in Pittman were not warned of the asbestos, Willhoff wants to assure students the problem has not been ignored. The university hired licensed contractors to remove poison from the asbestos, which was not disturbed during the process. The contractors followed all state laws and regulations, and no dangerous levels were emitted at anytime during the removal.
Accordingly, Willhoff said students do not need to worry about the fact it takes 10-20 years for people exposed to dangerous levels of poison in asbestos to have any kind of reaction.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency explains the risks of developing types of cancer, particularly, a disease called Asbestosis. Asbestosis is a lung disease for which there is no effective treatment yet.
Additionally, two common cancers caused by asbestos are lung cancer and mesothelioma.
Until the 1970s, asbestos was used in the construction of homes and buildings for insulation and fire retardant, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It rarely used nowadays because of the health hazards. But several old buildings in Michigan, such as EMU’s Physical Plant, still contain the hazardous material.
A plan in terms of abatement should disturbance to asbestos occur is available on the physical plants’ website.
Unless asbestos is disturbed in some way, students, faculty and staff will not be threatened. This is the reason why Willhoff said the best defense against asbestos is avoiding interruption.
Willhoff encourages students who have concerns to call the Physical Plant at (734) 487-3591, or The Office of Environmental Health and Safety at (734) 487-0794. For further concerns, Willhoff is available in room 107 of the Snow Health Center.
