ALPENA — The Alpena Public Schools Board of Education adopted the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act asbestos management plan indemnification resolution on Monday.

Ken McInerney, facilities and transportation director for APS, has been designated to ensure the requirements under AHERA are met.

“The asbestos has all been encapsulated or all in accessible areas and it’s safe as long as it’s not disturbed,” Diane Block, assistant superintendent of operations, said. “Ken has been trained on being the representative and from the liability standpoint, it’s been recommended that we adopt this resolution to formalize that in compliance with AHERA.”

Congress has enacted AHERA of 1986 and the Environmental Protection Agency has promulgated final regulations requiring the district to inspect and reinspect buildings, take and analyze samples of suspected asbestos containing material, perform assessments, submit a management plan to the designated state agency, and perform various other tasks.

McInerney attended a workshop in January in Lansing to become the designated person for the district asbestos management plan in accordance with AHERA. McInerney was given a certification letter to initiate asbestos designated person responsibilities and the letter was signed by McInerney and dated with Feb. 19 as the date he will take responsibility of the asbestos management plan for APS.

McInerney was given a certification letter from the workshop to resign from the responsibility of the asbestos management plan upon retirement. The certification letter are written to give the district a clear state and end date of McInerney’s responsibilities pertaining to the asbestos management plan for the school district.

The APS Property Committee recommended adoption of the resolution and the resolution was adopted unanimously by the board of education.

Julie Goldberg can be reached via email at jgoldberg@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5688.