As residents of Philadelphia learned of yet another school building closure due to hidden asbestos, the family of a United Kingdom teacher has been granted a mesothelioma settlement by the council where she’d worked. Both stories highlight continuing concerns about the risks of disease posed by asbestos-contaminated school buildings.
Mesothelioma Fears Drive School Closures in Philadelphia
This week, Philadelphia parents learned that mesothelioma fears had driven the closing of yet another school building in the district. Year-to-date the School District of Philadelphia has engaged in 196 abatement projects, and 2,289 since 2016. The issue is particularly painful to the district’s teachers, as a beloved special education teacher was diagnosed with the rare asbestos-related disease in 2019.
Speaking of the issue, Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, said, “Ingesting just a particle of asbestos can lead to mesothelioma and unfortunately it does not identify itself in most cases for 20 or 30 years. It’s reprehensible that so many of our buildings are over 100 years old and they have been neglected because of the lack of the appropriate money in the budget in order to maintain.” The school that closed for remediation this week was built in 1915.
UK Teacher Dies of Mesothelioma After Working in Asbestos-Contaminated School Building
Teachers are facing the problem on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Just as is true in the United States, many of the United Kingdom’s educational buildings were built using asbestos, and an alarming number of teachers who’ve worked in those buildings are being diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases and dying of malignant mesothelioma.
The family of Hazel Healey, who died of malignant mesothelioma at the age of 73, recently reached a settlement with the school council where she worked. Though the council originally denied liability, saying that there was no asbestos in the St. Gabriel’s school building where Hazel worked from 1971 through 1980, documents were later discovered proving that the toxic material was present.
If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease, you need information about your risks and rights. Contact the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net today at 1-800-692-8608.
