West Jefferson Hills to have hazardous survey done of old high school

The West Jefferson Hills School District could pay roughly $20,000 for a company to survey the old Thomas Jefferson High School to find all of the hazardous materials inside prior to the building’s demolition.

After bringing in two abatement firms, each of which found asbestos and other hazardous materials in different parts of the building, Director of Facilities Ryan Snodgrass proposed that the district hire KU Resources Inc. to instead survey the building to find all hazardous materials — taking liability off of the district.

“People go to jail for messing with asbestos,” Snodgrass said. “So the investment in the professional service is worth it.”

Snodgrass told board members at the Jan. 21 meeting both civil and criminal penalties can go along with the wrongful removal of asbestos. So, district leaders want to make sure they get this right, as the district moves towards demolition of the now-closed TJ 1.0, located at 310 Old Clairton Road.

Board members were set to vote on a contract with KU Resources Inc. for $20,200 at the Jan. 28 meeting.

“We know we have a couple of areas of asbestos in that building that were from the ’70s. That’s why we’re going to do the survey,” Snodgrass said after the meeting. “We don’t want to get caught with anything that no one was aware of and we want to do it in the safest way possible.”

The building also includes an acid neutralization tank and oil from the elevator that must be removed, he said.

After conducting a survey of the building, KU Resources also will help oversee the bidding process for the removal of all hazardous materials from the old school, Snodgrass said.

The hope is for the hazardous materials to be removed from the now-shuttered school this spring and summer, he said.

Next, the district plans to bring in a civil engineer to help design what the space will look like after the demolition.

“Do we want grass or do we want parking?” Snodgrass said as options for the area.

Board members agreed they want to discuss the options prior to seeking bids.

“I think we just need to have that conversation as a board and you guys can say, this is what we think for up there, then we’ll design a package for what goes out to reflect that,” Snodgrass said.

Utility work also needs to be completed on the site, as the stadium lights tie into the old building.

To fund all of this, the district has money put aside for demolition of the old school that was earmarked as part of the $95 million cost of constructing the new TJ, Snodgrass said.

A company still is interested in salvaging the old school — even with the latest extended timeline.

The timeframe for when the 60-year-old school might come down remains unknown, Snodgrass said.