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Information about hazardous materials in schools should be freely available to parents after another public primary school was found to have lead dust, the Canberra Liberals say. Opposition spokesman for education Jeremy Hanson said parents should be provided with the exact lead reading in the affected classrooms at Richardson Primary School. “I don’t have confidence that the government is taking steps to remediate this with sufficient urgency,” he said. “If your child had been exposed to lead dust you’d want to know. I think that is a fair thing.” Staff at Richardson Primary School were told about contamination in the boiler room and HVAC heating system ducts near the school hall on Friday. Parents received a letter about the lead dust on Monday. ACT Education Minister Yvette Berry said dust particles were found in the library, the hall, and five learning areas used by two classes. “One test identified lead particles above the safe threshold and the rest of them were below threshold but they were all specialist cleaned anyway,” she said. The Education Directorate’s acceptable threshold for classrooms is 0.11 milligrams per square metre (mg/sq m) while the acceptable level for inaccessible areas is 1.08 mg/sq m. A directorate spokesman said preliminary results indicated the highest reading taken was 8.89 mg/sq m in an area not accessible to students. READ MORE: The areas were cleaned over the weekend and the heating system has been sealed. Further cleaning on the ductwork will be done outside school hours. Ms Berry said an expert panel had been appointed to guide the government on the management of hazardous materials in schools. “The expert panel includes health officials, academics, as well as work safety experts,” she said. “The panel is providing guidance to the Education Directorate on the implementation of the election commitment to spend $15 million to fast track the removal of hazardous materials in our public schools.” She said a dedicated task force had been set up within the directorate to coordinate the management and removal of hazardous materials. Ms Berry said in the past two months, the directorate had reviewed the hazardous materials registers in every school and assessed the condition the paint in every public school known to contain the substances. About 70 public schools were built before 1992 and are known to contain hazardous materials. Hazardous materials management plans are available at the front office of each school where parents may view them in person. Mr Hanson said he was concerned that $15 million wouldn’t be enough funding to remediate all of the affected schools. ACT Council of Parent and Citizens Associations’ spokeswoman Alison Elliott said in the case of Richardson Primary School the situation had been handled well but a long term plan was needed to clean up older schools. “We believe that in this case the problem has been well managed, noticed in time, proper care taken and cleaning done to maintain safety,” Ms Elliott said. “But lead and asbestos are still present in our schools. While they will require ongoing management, parents also want to see, at the same time, action on a long term plan to upgrade these older schools and to actually remove these materials. “We need long term funding and a clear plan to make our schools fit for the next generation. We can’t keep handing down these hazards.” Ms Berry said encapsulation by painting over surfaces with a non-lead paint was the most common method of remediation. “The paint only becomes dangerous when it’s disturbed, like asbestos sheeting, or when it becomes old and needs to be removed. “That might be the only option, but mostly the option on maintaining and remediation and looking out for the lead paint in our schools is painting over it.” Lead dust was also discovered in Yarralumla Primary School, North Ainslie Primary School and Alfred Deakin High School. For faster access to the latest Canberra news, download The Canberra Times app for iOS and Android.
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Information about hazardous materials in schools should be freely available to parents after another public primary school was found to have lead dust, the Canberra Liberals say.
“I don’t have confidence that the government is taking steps to remediate this with sufficient urgency,” he said.
“If your child had been exposed to lead dust you’d want to know. I think that is a fair thing.”
Staff at Richardson Primary School were told about contamination in the boiler room and HVAC heating system ducts near the school hall on Friday. Parents received a letter about the lead dust on Monday.
ACT Education Minister Yvette Berry said dust particles were found in the library, the hall, and five learning areas used by two classes.
“One test identified lead particles above the safe threshold and the rest of them were below threshold but they were all specialist cleaned anyway,” she said.
The Education Directorate’s acceptable threshold for classrooms is 0.11 milligrams per square metre (mg/sq m) while the acceptable level for inaccessible areas is 1.08 mg/sq m.
A directorate spokesman said preliminary results indicated the highest reading taken was 8.89 mg/sq m in an area not accessible to students.
The areas were cleaned over the weekend and the heating system has been sealed. Further cleaning on the ductwork will be done outside school hours.
Ms Berry said an expert panel had been appointed to guide the government on the management of hazardous materials in schools.
“The expert panel includes health officials, academics, as well as work safety experts,” she said.
“The panel is providing guidance to the Education Directorate on the implementation of the election commitment to spend $15 million to fast track the removal of hazardous materials in our public schools.”
She said a dedicated task force had been set up within the directorate to coordinate the management and removal of hazardous materials.
Ms Berry said in the past two months, the directorate had reviewed the hazardous materials registers in every school and assessed the condition the paint in every public school known to contain the substances.
About 70 public schools were built before 1992 and are known to contain hazardous materials.
Hazardous materials management plans are available at the front office of each school where parents may view them in person.
Opposition education spokesman Jeremy Hanson said he was not confident the government was remediating hazardous materials in schools with enough urgency. Picture: Sitthixay Ditthavong
Mr Hanson said he was concerned that $15 million wouldn’t be enough funding to remediate all of the affected schools.
ACT Council of Parent and Citizens Associations’ spokeswoman Alison Elliott said in the case of Richardson Primary School the situation had been handled well but a long term plan was needed to clean up older schools.
“We believe that in this case the problem has been well managed, noticed in time, proper care taken and cleaning done to maintain safety,” Ms Elliott said.
“But lead and asbestos are still present in our schools. While they will require ongoing management, parents also want to see, at the same time, action on a long term plan to upgrade these older schools and to actually remove these materials.
“We need long term funding and a clear plan to make our schools fit for the next generation. We can’t keep handing down these hazards.”
Ms Berry said encapsulation by painting over surfaces with a non-lead paint was the most common method of remediation.
“The paint only becomes dangerous when it’s disturbed, like asbestos sheeting, or when it becomes old and needs to be removed.
“That might be the only option, but mostly the option on maintaining and remediation and looking out for the lead paint in our schools is painting over it.”
