Students at Renfrew Collegiate Institute can breathe a little easier.
Renfrew Collegiate Institute sent out a letter to parents back on March 24th, noting that they had found asbestos vermiculite leaking inside the building.
Now, the school says that air samples taken since the discovery reveal that there are no further concerns within RCI’s occupied spaces.
In a statement, Principal Bill Smith says that interim measures have been taken to stop further leaks of the vermiculite and that carefully regulated steps to prevent future incidents will be performed outside school hours with continuous air monitoring to ensure the school remains safe.
He adds that virtually any building constructed before the late 1980s contains asbestos, but it doesn’t generally pose a health risk so long as it’s kept intact and undisturbed, and the Renfrew County District School Board has been actively monitoring, securing, and removing asbestos from local schools for nearly three decades.
(written by Kasey Egan)