---

DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM King Intermediate School's Building G, left, and Building I, right, were closed yesterday because of high levels of asbestos.

---

More asbestos
at school

New contamination leads
the principal to call for
testing all rooms on campus

Students and teachers were evacuated from a second classroom building at King Intermediate School in Kaneohe yesterday because of asbestos contamination, and the principal wants every building on campus to be tested.

"Obviously, I'm concerned about both the staff and the students' health," said Principal Cynthia Chun, who closed Building G right after receiving word yesterday morning that test results showed the presence of asbestos.

Building I, which sits next to Building G, was evacuated Nov. 10 after asbestos was found in dust that had been collected from two classrooms. Classes were being held in Building I while the exterior was scraped and sanded in preparation for painting.

Teacher Geraldine Best became alarmed when she saw dust flying and workers wearing respirators on Nov. 4, while she and her students were inside their stuffy classroom with the door and louvers closed. The Department of Accounting and General Services halted the renovation work later that day in response to her concerns. Test results came back Nov. 10.

"When they came out with the readings on asbestos, I damn near fell off my feet," Best said yesterday. "It's frightening."

"I didn't see any precautions being exercised in regard to removal of contaminants," she said. "I didn't see them wet-spraying. There was no catchment, no nothing. They were using a blower, like for the yard."

Chun said the presence of asbestos came as "a shock to everybody." The private employees handling the renovations wore protective suits in case there was lead in the paint, she said, but the school had been told that classes didn't need to be relocated because any lead would be contained through "proper abatement procedures."

"So it really was a good thing when the teacher brought those concerns to our attention," she added.

Chun said she has asked that all buildings be tested for asbestos, both inside and out. Building G, renovated last year, was tested because of its proximity to Building I.

The contaminated buildings, now roped off in yellow tape and orange plastic fencing, are on the Kaneohe Bay side of the sprawling campus. Both have four classrooms. Chun also closed a nearby portable yesterday as a precaution.

Students have been moved to empty classrooms and the library. The school houses 830 seventh- and eighth-graders.

Asbestos is a naturally occurring substance, but inhaling its tiny fibers can cause lung disease, including cancer, usually as a result of prolonged exposure over time. It can take from 15 to 40 years for symptoms to occur. Unlike exposure to lead, which can be detected through a blood test, doctors cannot test for the presence of asbestos in individuals.

Instead, those considered at high risk, such as shipyard workers or miners who have handled pure asbestos, have their health monitored for years for symptoms of disease. Best visited her doctor for a baseline chest X-ray, and wants the students to be monitored as well.

So does parent Gwen Narvaez, whose daughter Avenley Yamada is in Best's class.

"I'm greatly concerned," she said. "My child was exposed to this for four days. I'm afraid for the long term. I want them at least to be tested and have some sort of follow-up."

Another parent, Bruce Stevens, whose daughter Niana also was displaced from Building I, took the news in stride.

"I was sort of surprised, but not alarmed," he said while picking up his daughter after school. "Asbestos is a problem of long-term exposure. As long as they catch it right away and it's sealed up and taken care of, I'm not worried."

The school has scheduled a meeting for parents at 6 p.m. Monday in the school library. But there won't be any easy answers on the issue.

Kimura International Inc. collected 11 dust samples through a microvacuum technique in Building I and found two that exceeded the laboratory's detectable limit of 2,970 asbestos structures per square centimeter. A sample taken from the floor of Room 1 showed 41,900 structures per square centimeter, and 15,200 on top of a cabinet in Room 3, according to Kimura's report, obtained by the Star-Bulletin.

Tom Lileikis, environmental health specialist for the Department of Health, said yesterday that the microvacuum technique used to collect the samples off surfaces is "unusual" and he didn't know how to interpret those results.

"Normally they would use air sampling," he said. "Apparently there wasn't enough visible to take a regular sample."

"What I get from the Environmental Protection Agency is that you can use microvacuum sample results to determine if there are asbestos structures present compared to a clean area," he said. "It in no way can be construed to determine the percentage of asbestos."

He said another test indicated that a layer under the paint on Building I's exterior contained about 2 percent asbestos.

"How much a child may have inhaled will never be known, because you can't go back and take a blood test and say the child's been exposed to this amount," he added.

He noted that half of the homes and many offices in Hawaii contain some form of asbestos materials. Still, he called asbestos disturbance at the school "a valid concern." Asked whether the health of students and staff should be monitored, he recommended that families consult with their physicians.