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Asbestos Management Violations Settled at Baltimore School

Release Date: 06/12/2009
Contact Information: Donna Heron 215-814-5113 / heron.donna@epa.gov

PHILADELPHIA (June 12, 2009) – The Church of the Good Shepherd has recently settled violations of a federal law on the management of asbestos materials at The Good Shepherd School, 1401 Carollton Ave., Baltimore, Md., the mid-Atlantic office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today.

The Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) requires owners and operators of buildings in which private non-profit schools are operated to conduct a reinspection of all asbestos-containing building material in each school building once every three year and to conduct six-month periodic surveillance inspections. The schools must also develop a management plan for asbestos-containing materials, detailing procedures to prevent asbestos releases. The management plan must be available at the school, with annual notification to parent, teacher and employee organizations of the plan and any asbestos abatement activities. Schools must train personnel on AHERA compliance and provide at least two hours of training in asbestos awareness to the school’s custodial and maintenance staff.

The school spent $17,645 to address the various AHERA issues and is now in compliance. As a result, EPA has assessed The Church of the Good Shepherd a final penalty of zero dollars for its efforts to come into compliance. NOTE: These violations involve precautionary inspection, recordkeeping and notification requirements. EPA does not allege that students or other building occupants were exposed to asbestos as a result of these violations.

During a 2008 inspection conducted by the Maryland Department of the Environment, several violations were discovered, including a failure to reinspect asbestos-containing materials every three years – the school had not been inspected since 1998. The inspection also found that the church had failed to send annual notifications to parents, teachers, and employee organizations about the availability of the asbestos management plan as required.

The settlement announced today is part of EPA’s ongoing efforts to work throughout the mid-Atlantic states to reduce asbestos hazards in schools. EPA offers compliance assistance for public, private, charter and parochial schools, and has conducted outreach at educational conferences.

For more information on the regulation of asbestos in schools, visit https://www.epa.gov/asbestos/pubs/asbestos_in_schools.html