ASBESTOS FOUND AT SCHOOL EXPOSURE `MINIMAL'.

Byline: Orith Goldberg Staff Writer

NEWHALL - Workers suited in hazardous materials gear descended on Wiley Canyon School this week after asbestos was released into the air during the demolition of a portable classroom, part of a campus renovation.

The asbestos fibers had been contained in floor tiles under carpeting - a fact that was missed in a 1989 survey commissioned by the Newhall School District to determine the extent of the suspected carcinogen in its facilities, said Don Hughes, the district's assistant superintendent of business.

In the classroom, the asbestos posed no threat. But the demolition May 18 may have posed a health hazard because the fibers can be harmful when they are airborne.

``The issue is inhaling asbestos particles,'' Hughes said.

Air-quality specialists who conducted tests the following day said the possibility children were exposed during the demolition was minimal.

``While it's impossible to gauge the exposure with no one doing air monitoring (at the time of demolition), the good thing is that the asbestos was properly contained immediately after the AQMD arrived on scene and was properly abated after that,'' said Sam Atwood, a spokesman for the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

It was only after the demolition that school officials learned they - or their contractor - were required to notify the AQMD before the project.

An AQMD representative, alerted by a school neighbor, responded the same afternoon, but most of the work was done. School officials, unaware of the regulation, hired Asbestos Analysis Laboratories in Studio City to test for airborne fibers.

Representatives from the laboratory went to the demolition site the next day and tested the air but found no asbestos, said Patrick Michaels, the laboratory representative and a state certified asbestos consultant.

A document released by the laboratory stated that there appeared to be three to four square feet of asbestos from floor tiles dislodged. Samples taken of debris were found to contain 2 percent chrysotile asbestos, the most common type of asbestos.

One sample showed asbestos in the floor tiles, but not loose, Atwood said. Atwood added that after the structure was demolished, the floor tiles were basically intact.

Michaels said the demolition area appeared to be about 100 yards away from the school's main buildings and quite a distance from the play area.

The 960-square-foot portable classroom was divided into separate rooms and had been used for special education, speech and language classes, Hughes said.

Hughes said it is possible that seven other portables in use at Wiley could contain asbestos in the floors, posing no hazard because they are confined.

Michaels agreed.

``The carpeting on top of the floor tiles would enclose it,'' he said. ``There should be no issue of asbestos release in that condition.''

According to the laboratory, ``the amount of disturbed asbestos containing material qualified the disturbance event as a major fiber release episode'' as defined by the Asbestos Hazardous Emergency Response Act.

Michaels said the ``major release'' designation calls for specific procedures to follow in removing more than 3 square feet of crumbled asbestos.

The area near the old bungalow is now restricted, and the debris is covered in tarps to prevent any asbestos release.

Representatives from Asbestos Analysis Laboratories have continued to inspect the site by testing the air again. Once the results are in, they will be forwarded to the AQMD. Assuming the air is clean, the case may be closed and the district would hire a hauling company to remove the debris.

Michaels described the demolition without notification to the AQMD as an error.

``It was a mistake, and not the mistake of the school district,'' Michaels said. ``In my opinion, whoever the district hired to do the survey, apparently missed the (asbestos).''

School officials were disturbed by the finding, having counted on the validity of the survey taken in 1989 by Abatec Inc. in El Toro.

``If I'd had a report of asbestos, I would have done the abatement,'' said Vic Nardiello, the district's acting director for school facilities.

Representatives from Abatec Inc., the company district officials said performed the survey, did not return phone calls.