Asbestos removed from Millard

STAFF WRITER

The Pike County Board of Education is spending an estimated $135,000 to update a heating system and approximately $19,000 to remove asbestos at the Millard Middle School.

Board of education members approved a contract with J & M Monitoring for asbestos removal in the school's boiler replacement project during a meeting Tuesday. That contract allows for an estimated $18,500 to remove asbestos from the school's boiler tanks and an approximate $6,500 to remove asbestos from pipe joint fittings connected to the coal-fire furnace heating system, which is located in the mechanical room of the school. Superintendent Roger Wagner said the funds needed for the asbestos removal may be less, depending on the amount of asbestos that will be taken out of the building.

Lloyd Fields, the district's maintenance and buildings supervisor, said the furnace is equipped with a stoker that feeds the system coal when temperatures decrease. The system is located in the school's mechanical room, where the two asbestos-covered water tanks are also located, he said.

J & M Monitoring will remove those tanks and some pipe-joint material that's also covered with asbestos, Fields said. According to him, the tanks were used at one time to heat water in the school, but they are now used only for heating purposes.

Fields said the district is replacing the school's coal-fired furnace, which has been used since the 1960's, with a new electrical furnace. The district is also updating the school's power service, Fields said, to handle the new heating system. Requests for bids for this project are expected to be advertised next month, he said.

The asbestos never posed any danger to students or faculty at the school, both Wagner and Fields said.

The Pike County School District maintains coal-fired furnaces, electrical boilers, gas boilers, and geothermal systems for the heating and cooling of county schools.