School is declared safe
after asbestos cleanup

King Intermediate School students will return to their classrooms tomorrow after an asbestos cleanup that prolonged the winter break to four weeks.

Five buildings on the Kaneohe campus were cleaned by Unitek, a licensed asbestos removal firm, according to a state Department of Education announcement.

In a fact sheet to parents and school employees, the environmental firm contracted to deal with the hazard said, "Thorough testing of the entire campus verifies that all school buildings are safe and ready for re-occupation."

Kimura International had laboratory tests done of dust samples from outside and inside of all buildings as well as air samples and soil taken from the grounds surrounding classrooms and the football field.

School was dismissed Dec. 15, three days before holiday break, and classes were originally expected to resume yesterday for the 830 seventh- and eighth-graders.

The presence of low levels of asbestos was detected in November after staff members raised concerns about dust being raised as workmen scraped the exterior of buildings to prepare for painting. Five buildings were evacuated.

Asbestos was not found in the remaining classrooms and offices, according to the Kimura release yesterday.

The fact sheet does not say that asbestos is totally gone. It says an "aggressive air sample method" of all buildings indicated that "health risks associated with asbestos levels are insignificant. A toxicologist, a person qualified to determine the health risks associated with exposure to hazardous materials, interpreted all test results."