The Joplin, Missouri School District announced this week that changes in asbestos handling regulations are continuing to slow down the demolition of severely ravaged schools in that city.

An article in the Joplin Globe reports that the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has changed the method of asbestos abatement required at the next damaged school to be addressed, the old South Middle School on West 22nd Street. The article notes that instead of using the wet method of removal – which involves dousing the building with water as it is demolished – the DNR has decided that all asbestos inside the former school needs to be removed before demolition commences.

Mike Johnson, director of buildings, grounds, and transportation for the Joplin School District, says that he understands the changes. Some of the buildings that have already come down were in danger of immediate collapse, so the wet method was deemed safer and more appropriate. Because South Middle School is considered to be still stable, pre-demolition removal is deemed necessary. Nonetheless, the new regulation adds more dollars to the cost of cleaning up the schools damaged after a fierce tornado hit the city last summer.

“The actual situation for each of those schools [that have been damaged] is going to be different,” explained DNR Director of Communications, Renee Bungart. ” They’re still sampling, monitoring, and removing items that contain asbestos, and wrapping those items and properly disposing of them.”

The EPA has recently questioned the overall use of the wet method, stating that it “largely mitigates the release of fibers” but that prolonged exposure to the fibers released into the air may “increase the amount of fibers deposited in the lungs.” David Bryan, public affairs specialist with the regional EPA in Kansas City, Missouri, explained that when fibers become imbedded in lung tissue, they have the potential to cause asbestosis, lung cancer, or the aggressive asbestos-caused cancer known as pleural mesothelioma.

Bungart told reporters that the DNR is still waiting for a determination as to which method will be used at Joplin High School, which must also be demolished in the near future. As that structure has been deemed structurally unstable, it is highly unlikely that asbestos removal will occur before demolition. Most likely, the wet method will be used.

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