A barrage of questions – as well as accusations of an asbestos cover-up – was fired at by several residents Monday night. They challenged the school district’s handling of construction debris containing potentially hazardous asbestos that was dumped, then buried, last year on wooded school district property next to Wescosville Elementary School.“Is the school district engaged in a cover-up of illegal acts?” asked resident Chris Donatelli. “It has been confirmed both by the EPA and the DEP that no one is permitted to bury these types of materials. It’s against the law.” “Who knew about the asbestos problem at the Wescosville school?” asked resident Charles Rhoads. “Who is responsible? Who ordered the cover-up? When will the cover-up end?” No one on the school board provided any answers. District superintendent J. Michael Schilder did report that all the buried construction debris has been removed from the site. He said the removal began Oct 6 and concluded Oct. 9. Schilder said the material being removed was tested on site – although he did not reveal results of that testing -- and that the excavation was monitored by a representative of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “No identifying information was found in any of the material that was removed,” said the superintendent, meaning no clues were unearthed to shed light on the source... |
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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author of NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson-Reuters) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson-Reuters). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman 1.973.696.7900 jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.
