LYNN, MA — It shouldn''t have happened, but it did: That''s the way city officials are explaining how as many as four janitors were exposed to asbestos at the 100-year-old Fecteau-Leary School in mid-December,
according to The Daily Item.
Michael Donovan, director of the city''s Inspectional Services Department, said the janitors working a weekend shift found broken floor tiles and a puddle of water on the school''s first floor: "They picked up the tiles and put them in barrels."
According to Donovan, a steam leak buckled the floor, forcing the tiles to give way: "The tiles popped up and the custodians cleaned up the area," he said.
"It''s an old building. When we saw the situation, I reported the violation to DEP (state Department of Environmental Protection). I turned myself in," Donovan added.
The tiles were not asbestos, but the glue or mastic that holds them in place did contain asbestos, the article noted.
