In another amazing tale of survival from a disease that takes so many, a Beaumont, Tex. television station profiled local firefighter David Chesser — who is now back on the job after battling mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos.

Having a tough time recovering from a shoulder injury, doctors discovered something far worse. Up for promotion, Chesser was named the new fire chief at the time of his struggle fighting the disease but could not make the ceremony for obvious reasons. His wife stood in his honor to receive the award.

On leave for fourteen months getting treatment in Nebraska, he vowed to return to the department.

“I wanted to be back with these guys. I didn’t want the cancer to make me quit my job,” said Chesser to Beaumont’s KFDM news.

A 36 year veteran at the department, he’s amazingly back on the job fulfilling the duties he vowed to fulfill when he was appointed chief — an act Chesser acknowledges helped him in his fight against meso.

Also giving him strength was a woman he responded to while on the job before his diagnosis:

“I made a run on a sick person she was in her 20′s. I can’t even tell you her name but she reminds me of, probably of an angel. She was so sick she had a brain tumor, but she smiled. She knew she may never come home and that made an impact on my life,” said Chesser.

Home of the original settlement from Europeans, many towns here in Massachusetts were founded in the early 1600s. While few of the buildings in this state date back that far, it is safe to say Massachusetts is home to many more aged structures than most other states.

This includes schools — many of which were built in the early twentieth century. With these aging structures comes the threat of widespread asbestos exposure for thousands of students, and a recent press release from the group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) highlights just how dangerous this problem really is.

PEER described non-compliance with federal asbestos regulations as “widespread” and recommends the Federal Government intervene to coordinate mass-abatement procedures.

Data from the Massachusetts Cancer Registry indicates a noticeable increase in malignant mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases among teachers and administrators in the Bay State. The effects on schoolchildren have yet to be studied.

Here’s what’s truly frightening — nearly 90 percent of schools on average have not been in compliance with federal regulations in the past decade. In any one particular year during that term, no more than 22 percent had been in compliance. Recent inspections of 40 schools unearthed nearly 300 violations alone.

“School children, teachers, custodians and cafeteria workers are at risk of exposure throughout the Commonwealth,” said former EPA biologist and attorney Kyla Bennett. “These ultrahigh rates of noncompliance sound an alarm bell that we need more boots on the ground now to turn the corner on this by the end of the summer, before the schools reopen.”

Right now the Massachusetts Division of Occupational Safety is responsible for handling the abatement of schools, but Bennett says these alarming statistics indicate it may be time for the EPA to intervene and take jurisdiction from the state agency.

“Noncompliance rates on the order of 90 percent indicate that the Massachusetts Division of Occupational Safety may not have adequate resources to enforce federal asbestos protections,” Bennett said.

So, parents, keep this in mind when your children return to school in the fall. And let’s do all we can to Ban Asbestos Now.