Medford Schools Penalized for Improper Asbestos Removal

Medford Public Schools face a suspended $30,000 fine after the Department of Environmental Protection found one of its schools improperly removed asbestos, according to a press release from the Mass DEP.

During an inspection at on Main Street in 2009, environmental protection officials found that school maintenance staff removed asbestos containing material without the use of water, work area seal, or air cleaning devices as required by the regulations, according to the release.

The school district had also failed to notify Mass DEP about the removal, the release said.

The violation occurred when a maintenance crew was cleaning the floors in 2009 and some of the tiles started to peel off, Superintendent Roy Belson said. The cleaners removed the peeling tiles, which contained a small amount of asbestos, and disposed of them in a bin behind the building, Belson said.

The DEP was notified through a complaint and an inspector review the school about a week after the tiles were removed, Belson said.

In May, the district came to an agreement with the DEP to send two staff members to receive asbestos training and have a suspended $30,000 penalty for the next three years. That agreement was finalized in late August.

"It was a technical error and it won’t happen again," Belson said. "We have no reason to believe we’ll ever have to pay that fine."