PHILADELPHIA COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) — A Pennsylvania school district is facing federal criminal charges, accused of failing to remediate and report damaged asbestos in school buildings.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania filed charges Thursday against the School District of Philadelphia, and it’s the first time a school district has been criminally charged for such an environmental violation.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the charges follow a five-year investigation.

Specifically, the school district is accused of failing to conduct timely inspections in seven schools: William Meredith Elementary, Building 21 Alternative High School, Southwark Elementary, S. Weir Mitchell Elementary, Charles W. Henry Elementary, Universal Vare Charter School and Frankford High School, as well as a six-month inspection at Building 21.

Federal authorities alleged a “longstanding and widespread problem of asbestos contamination in Philadelphia schools that endangered students and teachers, and, in some cases, foreclosed any education at all by requiring the closure of the school.”

Thirty-one school buildings had asbestos problems, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said, between 2015 and 2023.

Some schools, they said, had multiple areas of damaged asbestos that sometimes went unattended or were improperly addressed.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the School District agreed to a deferred prosecution agreement and, if the district maintains compliance as determined by a court-authorized monitor, charges can be dropped.

“This deferred prosecution agreement, if approved, affords the government the highest available level of prosecutorial and judicial oversight over the School District of Philadelphia and its efforts to comply with its legal obligations to provide safe schools,” said U.S. Attorney Metcalf. “Most importantly, the DPA provides the best possible platform for students, teachers, staff, and others who may spend time in our schools to breathe clean air free of asbestos.”

The term of the monitoring will be approximately five years.