Asbestos

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - A Chambersburg Area Senior High School teacher Monday began serving a 10-day suspension without pay for removing floor tiles containing asbestos and causing the school to be closed on the final day of classes, according to Director of Human Resources Lynn Lerew. The name of the teacher would not be released, Lerew said Monday. The suspension for 10 working days will last until July 7. "It's being handled as a personnel matter by the administration," Lerew said.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - A threat of airborne asbestos that closed Chambersburg Area Senior High School on Friday morning ended in the afternoon when tests showed the air inside the school was asbestos-free, school officials said. School administrators said in a news release they learned of a potential release of asbestos in the Vocational Agricultural wing of the high school following the unauthorized removal of some floor tiles that contained asbestos.

What a photo in Tuesday's Morning Herald. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend is touring the Afghanistanesque Baldwin House, future site of a university campus in downtown Hagerstown, and the expression on her face is one of "You've got to be kidding me. " I guess they can renovate anything, but yikes. The photo shows a hole in the floor, crumbling walls, a door without knobs, chipped glass and a battered old sink, the style of which was last seen in "The Shawshank Redemption. " Publicly, Townsend said, "I think it's exciting when you can preserve an old building and have a sense of rootedness, of history, and turn it into an education center.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Franklin County officials say asbestos at the county prison doesn't pose a health threat to corrections officers or prisoners, but work will start next month to remove it. First Capital Insulation of York, Pa., on Tuesday was awarded a $51,700 contract by the Board of County Commissioners to remove the asbestos. The company submitted the lowest of three bids, the highest of which was almost $74,000, according to County Administrative Assistant Brian Kelly.

MERCERSBURG, Pa. - Six hundred James Buchanan Middle School students will soon be back in familiar surroundings now that repairs have been completed from the bursting of a steam pipe expansion joint early this month. "We're going to reopen Friday morning. We're dismissing the high school and middle school at 1 p.m. Thursday," Tuscarora Schools Superintendent William Konzal said Wednesday. The early dismissal today will allow time to transfer teaching materials back to the middle school, he said.

MERCERSBURG, Pa. - More than 600 middle school students in Mercersburg have missed classes since Monday, when James Buchanan Middle School's heating system broke down and spewed hot steam into parts of the 45-year-old building, creating an asbestos hazard in eight classrooms. cont. from news page Schools Superintendent William T. Konzal will explain the situation to parents at 6:30 p.m. today in the James Buchanan High School cafeteria. He expects the students to resume classes Friday in three separate facilities in the community.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. - Workers will soon begin to tear out the asbestos in the 62-year-old former East Junior High School, but its owners aren't saying if that means the eventual demolition of the East Main Street building that was home to generations of local high school students. Sheran White, spokesman for Summit Health, which bought the school at auction in 1990 for $500,000, said there are no definite plans to renovate or raze the building. She said the asbestos has to be removed no matter what happens to the building.

From staff reports Hagerstown and Washington County elected officials discussed the possibility joining forces to save the roundhouse from demolition on Tuesday, but weren't optimistic about chances for success. After Hagerstown Roundhouse Museum Inc. officials and supporters asked them for a letter of intent to acquire the property, elected officials said there environmental and legal issues still needed to be addressed. Hagerstown Councilwoman Susan Saum-Wicklein said the city alone cannot buy the property, but there's potential to save it if the city and county did so as partners.

SCHILLER PARK, Ill. (AP) - HoHo's, Twinkies and more than a dozen other types of snacks were recalled in Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and 18 other states because a bakery might have been contaminated by asbestos. Managers at several Tri-State area food markets said Tuesday they were unaware of the recall. Interstate Brands Corp. said Tuesday it recalled the snacks and closed its plant in this Chicago suburb because of a potential threat from asbestos fibers in insulation removed from a boiler Jan. 11. State inspectors had planned to close the plant Monday night when it was shut down voluntarily.