St. Louis Park, MN Mayor commends school board’s handling of asbestos concerns

In a recent interview, St. Louis Park Mayor, Jeff Jacobs addressed the issue of asbestos found at local schools and the School Board’s prompt and proper handling of the situation.  Asbestos is a highly toxic mineral fiber that can be found in many old school buildings.  The mineral was used regularly in construction materials throughout the 18^th and 19^th century, and asbestos was only regulated on any real level in the late 1970s, when it was irrefutably linked to respiratory illnesses like asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma, a rare cancer of the protective lining of the body’s internal cavities.

Of the asbestos found in St. Louis Park’s senior and junior high schools, the mayor said, “Those schools are old and have asbestos in them. That’s no secret — they’ve known that … A lot of those floor tiles were built with asbestos … I’ve dealt a little bit with asbestos in my law practice, so I know how dangerous that stuff is … To get exposed to it for a couple days is one thing, but when you have students who are in that building for years, teachers that are there for decades and employees that are in there for a long time, that’s dangerous stuff. Asbestos is a very, very dangerous mineral. Once it’s in your lungs, it never leaves.”

Mesothelioma is almost exclusively caused by prolonged asbestos exposure.  This particular asbestos cancer is a dormant hazard, as it takes an average of 40 years to develop and detection is difficult.  By the time most patients are diagnosed, their mesothelioma prognosis is usually limited to a life expectancy of no more than 18 months.

Of the School Board, Mayor Jacobs commended their efforts. “They did a good job with public outreach and public notification. I think closing the schools for a couple of days while they dealt with it was a good idea.”