It was once a mainstay of the construction business -- easy and cheap to install and a very effective fire-proofing material, but there was a downside to asbestos, its fibers can cause severe illness and even death. Since 1978 asbestos was banned from any new construction in the United States but there are a lot of buildings that were built during its heyday that still contain asbestos.

The Nevada R-5 School District has been working for the past seven years on a 10-year plan to completely abate the asbestos in its buildings. Christi Peterson, assistant superintendent, said that with this summer's projects most of the district's buildings have been abated and just pockets of asbestos remain.

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"We've been working on a 10-year plan since 1999 on a prioritized list of projects," Peterson said. "It was a highly specialized process to make the list and we had to consider many different criteria to determine what projects should be undertaken first."

Peterson said the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act, signed into law in 1986, governs how schools handle asbestos abatement programs.

"All areas that have asbestos have to be inspected every six months, its called the six month surveillance," Peterson said. "We're fortunate that we do all of our management through an environmental management company out of Kansas City. Eight years ago we aligned with them, we were one of the first to do so. They provide inspectors to insure that we are in compliance."

The district has gone further -- all maintenance and custodial staff are trained in how to treat asbestos.

"All of our maintenance and custodial staff have taken training so they know what they can do and what they cannot do regarding asbestos," Peterson said.

The district's maintenance supervisor and Peterson have both been trained by the Department of Natural Resources to be asbestos inspectors.

"Kevin Ogle, our maintenance supervisor, has been trained by the DNR as an asbestos inspector," Peterson said. "I have as well because I need to know what is going on."

This year, the projects included the high school classrooms on the east side of the second floor corridor and the three rooms in the west hall where the central office used to be. Remaining projects include some work at the high school, the Bowman building and the middle school.

"Benton has been fully abated. The Bowman Building has a few places here and there and there are a few classrooms at the middle school that need abatement. Truman is new enough that it never had any asbestos," Peterson said. "There used to be a boiler at the high school and there are some steam pipes that have been abandoned with thermal insulation on them. The last of the pipes with the thermal insulation is underground and is a low priority."

Peterson said the project has taken a lot of resources over the years and once it is finished there should be funds freed up for other uses.

"It's been a huge undertaking," Peterson said. "The majority has been floor tiles but we're about to wrap it up. It's been an enormous expense and responsibility. The moment we can drop that off it will be a huge savings to the district."