MONTREAL – Students at Riverdale High School in Pierrefonds got an early jump on next week’s March break after the facility was closed on Thursday and Friday as a precaution.
The decision was made after workers at the school ripped down a ceiling that contained asbestos.
Air quality test results received by the board on Thursday showed no asbestos in the air in the school, including the area where work was being done, said Carol Heffernan, an assistant director-general at the Lester B. Pearson School Board.
The board also asked for tests on the ventilation system “just to make sure nothing settled there.” Those results haven’t come back yet, Heffernan said.
The board expects to get them on Friday. There are no classes at the school next week because of the March break.
“Our assumption is there is no problem and we probably overreacted,” Heffernan said before the board received the test results on Thursday. But even if there is a problem, the board can do a thorough cleaning next week, she said.
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“The students weren’t too upset to find out school was cancelled.”
The board learned about the incident on Wednesday. Students weren’t in the school when it happened, Heffernan said. It occurred in a vacant part of the building where the board is creating a vocational centre.
The architects have plans that indicate asbestos on some of the ceilings “so they have to be addressed correctly,” Heffernan said.
Unfortunately, some of the workers weren’t paying attention and ripped down different ceilings and one of them had asbestos, she said.
As they tore it down, they broke the fire detection system, which automatically shut off the ventilation system, Heffernan said. That fortunate mishap stopped anything that was floating around in the air from spreading to the rest of the school, she said.
The Pearson board conducted a study of all its schools in 2006-07. Asbestos in some ceilings was subsequently encapsulated.
“Every one of our schools that were built prior to 1980 has some degree of asbestos,” said Heffernan, who noted that pretty much applies to any building built before that period.
If the asbestos is in good condition you can leave it forever, Heffernan said. “But once you start working in the room, that’s when the problems happen because then it becomes small particles in the air and you can inhale it,” said Heffernan, who noted that asbestos should be disposed of properly.
Board staff check on the asbestos at least once a year, Heffernan added.
Once the board receives the test results for the ventilation system it will decide whether the school, which is used for activities such as basketball on weekends, will reopen on Saturday.
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