Asbestos removal at West Elementary to cost about $1M

By Harold Gwin

YOUNGSTOWN — It could cost about $1 million to safely remove the asbestos from the old West Elementary School building at 134 N. Hazelwood Ave.

That’s the last environmental engineering estimate on getting rid of the hazardous substance, which must be carefully removed under controlled conditions and disposed of in special landfills as part of the demolition of the 81-year-old building.

It’s a bargain compared to the original estimate, which showed asbestos removal would cost around $2.2 million, said Tony DeNiro, assistant superintendent for school business affairs.

“It’s not as bad as the first surveys indicated,” he said.

The original survey of the building indicated there was significant amounts of asbestos in the plaster on the walls, making the removal more extensive and more expensive than a normal building demolition.

A second survey, however, showed that the amount of asbestos in some walls was within acceptable limits and those areas won’t require the more expensive methods of removal, DeNiro said.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.