News

Bottineau closes its schools for a day and a half over an asbestos scare

By Scott Wagar

04/07/2015

After a leak was discovered inside Bottineau High School last week, classes and activities throughout the district were shut down for a day and a half so an abatement could be conducted over asbestos.

“There were no after school activities on Monday and no school Tuesday. We had a leak in the ceiling. Because of the location, we are required to do an asbestos abatement of the area,” said Jason Kersten, superintendent of the Bottineau School District. “This was done on Tuesday. 

The leak was located down the hallway from the high school office which leads to the cafeteria. Once the leak was discovered, Kersten made the decision to call off all after school activities on Monday afternoon and cancel school on Tuesday when the abatement happened. 

Kersten stated that the students were not in danger during the time of the leak and took every precaution to protect the students’ wellbeing.

Kersten added the abatement was cared for in a timely manner.
“Total Control out of Dickinson was here on Tuesday and did the necessary abatement of the area in the ceiling. The abatement was done to create an access hole to fix the pipe that was leaking. That all went fine,” Kersten said. 

“An individual from Badland out of Minot was also here to complete an air quality test. They ran their test and found no issues. This gave the district the clearance to bring the plumbers in to fix the leak. The leak has now been fixed and everything is back to normal,” he added.

With the leak inside the high school, along with the asbestos issues in the district’s grade school, it shows why Bottineau’s school board is working so hard to construct a new school building and conduct renovation projects.

Asbestos is a cancer carrying product that is utilized in the industrial field and is known to cause malignant lung cancer, mesothelimoa and asbestosis, along with other types of cancer, all of which can be fatal.

More than 50 countries have restricted or banned asbestos since the early 1970s, but other countries, like the U.S., still allow its use.