EPA To Clean Former School To Mitigate Risks to Public Health, Welfare, & Environment

The Environmental Protection Agency is getting ready to take on the task of cleaning of a former Milwaukee school. The building that once housed the VE Carter School of Excellence closed after a fire in 2013 and has since been a place for vandals.

There are signs all over the property warning of hazardous materials and A copy of the EPA report outlines it all.

An inspector who went inside the school said, \"the airborne asbestos is so thick, it looks like snow.\"

Caution tape now sits outside the abandoned school, warning anyone who enters of asbestos.

But that’s not all. The inspection report also found other hazardous materials inside including flammable and corrosive chemicals, poisons, lead, hazardous ash, and mercury from switches and thermometers. All of which are serious health risks to humans.

The inspection report says the hazards appear to be contained to the inside of the building.

The EPA estimates the clean up, which begins this week will cost about $423,000. It could also take more than a month to remove and clean.