web1_TTL05116mfhs.grant_.jpg

Maternal & Family Health Services awarded NEPA Health Care Foundation grant

web1_GypsyMoth_TLStock.jpg

Nuangola Borough trees will be sprayed for gypsy moth infestation

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; If you wanted one last look at Coughlin High School Auditorium, fuggedaboutit. The room is sealed tighter than a child-proof, tamper-resistant aspirin bottle. Thick plastic sheeting blocks every portal.</p><p>The lone entry point &#8212; a narrow room of plastic sheeting where the enviro-suits are doffed and donned by asbestos-removal workers &#8212; bears a stark warning of asbestos and cancer, and you can&#8217;t see in there, either.</p><p>&#8220;They&#8217;ll be working on that room for at least a month,&#8221; Gary Salijko estimated during a brief Wednesday tour of the venerable original section of Coughlin, more than 100 years old. &#8220;The ceilings are so high, and there&#8217;s asbestos everywhere.&#8221;</p><p>Asbestos abatement is in full swing. Along with the removal going on in the sealed auditorium, workers are doing prep work elsewhere, pulling woodwork away from walls.</p><p>Students in the neighboring annex, as well as the general public, are well protected from the risk of friable (loose, or dust-like) asbestos getting free, Salijko, of Apollo Inc., said. Negative air pressure in the auditorium prevents air from escaping without going through filters.</p><p>And there are a lot of filters. Boxes of them sit in the former library, stacked almost from one side to the other.</p><p>The rails are gone from the main stairs leading up to the second floor &#8212; they were sold in an <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/534672/coughlin-building-bids-farewell-with-auction" target="_blank">auction</a> April 23 &#8212; with nothing but yellow caution tape reminding visitors and workers to watch their step.</p><p>The second and third floor walkway tunnels that span across to the annex, where students from grades 11 and 12 are still taking classes, are sealed on the old side with plastic and on the annex side with newly installed walls and one-way doors for emergency exit.</p><p>At the base of the plastic sits a small humming motor, a plastic tube snaking up and poking through the plastic.</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s the air monitoring,&#8221; Salijko said. The company monitoring air, Environmental Abatement Associates, suggested, &#8220;If there is no contamination there, there&#8217;s none getting out,&#8221; he added. There are other stations throughout the area, and there is a person on site full-time to track the results.</p><p>Enormous piles of wood, doors and rug debris sit in the hallways. It will all go into the auditorium once abatement is complete, Salijko said, as will any other materials that must be removed elsewhere to get at asbestos. The fate of all that stuff will fall into the hands of the demolition company hired to raze the building.</p><p>Though there has been much debate and counter-proposals, the school board has stuck to a vote last summer to consolidate grades 9 through 12 from Meyers and Coughlin High Schools into a new building on this site.</p><p>All told, asbestos removal in this section of the school is expected to stretch through the summer into August, Salijko said. Tests suggested &#8220;there&#8217;s asbestos in every hard (plaster) wall and the ceilings, and probably in the floor tiles.&#8221;</p><p>Workers also expect to encounter plenty of the stuff wrapped around pipes, but won&#8217;t know how much until the plaster on the walls is removed, he added. The $2.9 million contract with ABMECH Inc. estimated up to 10,000 linear feet. If there is more, the cost will go up; if less, the district saves a little money.</p><p>Abatement in the annex should be much simpler, Salijko said, taking only about 40 days. But, of course, that work can&#8217;t start until the school board decides where to put the students.</p><p>The district has state approval to set up split schedules at the recently renovated Mackin Elementary building, but parents voiced fierce <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/508816/split-schedules-for-coughlin-huge-crowd-says-no" target="_blank">opposition </a>to the idea at a Feb. 1 meeting.</p><p>Currently, the district is trying to negotiate a <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/536109/more-details-on-panzitta-proposal-to-wilkes-barre-area-school-district-for-times-leader-building" target="_blank">deal </a>in which Panzitta Enterprises would buy the Times Leader building next to the Coughlin property line, renovate it to classroom space and lease it to the district.</p><p>Technically, the auditorium will be accessible once abatement is complete and the sheaf of plastic shielding moves to another section of the building. But with so much torn away to get at asbestos, it will literally be a shell of its former self.</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_TTL0501216Coughlin2-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption"></div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_TTL0501216Coughlin2-2.jpg</photo0><caption0></caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_TTL0501216Coughlin3-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">A chalk board with the words &#8216;Live Long James M. Coughlin High&#8217; in a second floor classroom. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_TTL0501216Coughlin3-2.jpg</photo1><caption1>A chalk board with the words &#8216;Live Long James M. Coughlin High&#8217; in a second floor classroom. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_TTL0501216Coughlin1-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Construction waste sits in the Coughlin foyer as an abatement team works to remove asbestos from the building. Gary Salijko points to an area sealed off for asbestos removal at Coughlin High School. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_TTL0501216Coughlin1-2.jpg</photo2><caption2>Construction waste sits in the Coughlin foyer as an abatement team works to remove asbestos from the building. Gary Salijko points to an area sealed off for asbestos removal at Coughlin High School. </caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Guydish</p><p>mguydish@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Inside scenes of abatement work at Coughlin High School