Last week’s torrential rains and gusty winds that soaked students and flooded several buildings around campus hit home for three 575 Commonwealth Ave. residents and sent others worried Thursday night over asbestos discovered as a result of a leak.
The three students were asked to evacuate their fifth-floor room after a leak developed in the ceiling, threatening to weaken ceiling tiles and cause whole pieces to collapse, according to CAS sophomore Val Caldieri, one of the students affected.
They were evacuated from their room late Thursday night and moved to Rich Hall on West Campus for two days while clean-up crews repaired the leak.
“It was inconvenient, but it was for our safety,” Caldieri said.
CAS sophomore Amy Socie, Caldieri’s roommate, added, “We had amazing help from the people at the HoJo the night we left.”
The leak also revealed “asbestos-containing material,” which was noted in a letter from Office of Residence Life Director David Zamojski sent to students over the weekend.
“The fifth floor leak was serious enough that the ceiling in the room could collapse from the damage … The sub-layers of some of the ceilings in the residence (the plaster layer beneath the surface coating) have asbestos-containing material,” Zamojski said in the letter.
The letter informs students that the asbestos does not pose a threat to their health as long as the asbestos-containing material, or ACM, is not “disturbed.” The letter assures residents that there has not been a “release of asbestos” and that BU officials are “working to prevent a ceiling collapse.”
BU spokesman Colin Riley explained that the university is concerned with repairing the ceiling and that the asbestos does not pose a health threat.
“Because it [the ACM] wasn’t broken apart and didn’t become airborne, there isn’t a health risk,” Riley said.
The letter HoJo residents received explains that the custodial staff has been trained to “recognize and report any suspected ACM damage.” It also asks that students “immediately report any damage to ceilings” to their RAs in an effort to protect all residents from potential threats of asbestos.
Even though the risk asbestos poses to students’ health is minimal, several students wondered why the university didn’t publicize the presence of asbestos earlier.
“If it’s such a big deal for me to report it, which it is, then why was I only told to do this after an incident,” Leszczynski said. “I mean, shouldn’t they have warned us to report a ceiling problem as soon as we moved in? If my ceiling was cracking, I wouldn’t run to the RA office – I’d take my time about it, thinking it’s no big deal.”
The Asbestos Management Plan, an Boston University initiative to manage and repair all university buildings containing ACM, began inspecting and surveying 300 Charles River Campus buildings between 1997 and 1998 to ensure that no asbestos leaks occur on campus, according to the university’s website.
The University’s Office of Environmental Health and Safety website says, “Damage or disturbance to asbestos-containing materials can result in elevated asbestos fiber concentrations and a potential health risk to building occupants. The potential for damage or disturbance depends upon several factors … Controlling these factors is the ultimate goal of the university’s Asbestos Management Plan.”
In his weekend letter, Zamojski told students that the presence of the material does not threaten their health. The letter also said BU has “scheduled work to begin removing confirmed or suspect ACM from the sub-layer of ceilings in 575 Commonwealth Ave.”
Students with any questions regarding the incident or other ACM located on campus are asked to contact the Office of Environmental Health and Safety at www.bu.edu/ehs.
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