School District Fined for Improper Tile Removal

New York, NY, July 1, 2010--The Lakeland Central School District in central New York State has been fined $2,500 after two custodians were found to have improperly removed asbestos-laden floor tiles from Lakeland High School last summer.

Two custodians disposed of the tiles in trash receptacles around the school without providing any warning that the debris contained asbestos, LoHud.com reports.

Neither of the men who collected the broken tiles in at least 10 classrooms last July was certified to handle asbestos, says the state Labor Department.

"Uncertified school employees were instructed by the head custodian to remove the loose pieces, cut away and remove portions of broken floor tile still attached to the floor and then they replaced them with non-asbestos floor tiles," Jean Genovese, a spokeswoman for the state Labor Department, told the news source.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, airborne asbestos fibers can become embedded in the lining of the lungs and cause diseases such as asbestosis, lung cancer or mesothelioma.

While the asbestos in the tiles was not friable, and therefore less likely to become airborne, Labor Department officials nonetheless warned that breakage of the tiles could have resulted in a fine asbestos dust.