The Township of Montclair released a report on Thursday, November 6, 2008, which addresses the asbestos problems that occurred at the Renaissance Middle School and at Madonna Hall earlier this year. The outgoing Town Council authorized this report in June, shortly before leaving office.

The Town Council retained Bill Kerbel of Environmental Health Investigations, Inc. to conduct an investigation and compile a report. Mr. Kerbel met with representatives of the Board of Education and a group of concerned parents and toured the Renaissance facility. He was given access to all relevant documents in the possession of the Board of Education and reviewed their current asbestos plan. At the request of the concerned parents, the investigation was expanded to include the construction at Madonna Hall, where the students at lunch for much of the school year.

The report reaches the following conclusions:

• - On the asbestos release that occurred when fire doors were replaced at Renaissance School, Mr. Kerbel concludes: “The fiber release episode which occurred in the Renaissance School on or about May 10, 2005 was a result of a deficient asbestos inspection report conducted in 1988 and a lack of communication between the owner (Archdiocese of Newark) and the tenant (Montclair Board of Education). Based on a site walkthrough, interviews with parties knowledgeable about events and a review of testing results, it is the opinion of the reviewer that the cleanup effort that was conducted was effective.”
  
  

• - On the construction at Madonna Hall, the report states that: “The fiber release episode which occurred in Madonna Hall was a result of non compliance by the Archdiocese of Newark with respect to its responsibilities concerning the OSHA Asbestos Construction Standard and to an extent, the failure of the Montclair Board of Education to conduct an asbestos inspection of the facility as required by EPA AHERA regulations.” However, the report also points out that “It is not possible to positively identify the time period in which the asbestos materials were disturbed.”
  
  

• - The report also looks forward and notes that: “A Management Plan has also been developed and Standard Operating Procedures for safeguarding the students and staff have been implemented. Based on conversations with Ms. Dana Sullivan and Mr. Leonard Saponana it is clear that the Montclair Board of Education is cognizant of their responsibilities with respect to asbestos materials in Renaissance School and Madonna Hall. The standard operating procedures that have been put in place to avoid recurrence of material disturbance are protective of students and staff. The support of parents and parent groups further enforces the reviewer’s opinion that the building occupants will be safeguarded.”

Third Ward Councilor Nick Lewis, who led the Council’s investigation of this matter, states “We hope that the release of this report will put this episode behind us and provide some closure for the parents, staff and students. While the report does indicate that mistakes were made, it is significant that it also confirms that steps were taken to resolve the asbestos problems. More important, it provides assurance that procedures have been developed to insure that this sort of incident will not occur again in the future.”

Questions concerning this report, which can be downloaded here, should be addressed to Councilor Lewis: (973) 509-2359, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .