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'Long way to go' on PCBs in schools
New York teacher Joseph Mugivan is a tireless investigator regarding PCBs and other pollutants in the schools.
By Bill Egbert
Education Department officials unveiled a new policy to address the problem of PCBs in school caulking at City Council hearings on the issue Tuesday, but conceded that they had a long way to go for a full solution.
Shortly after the Daily News broke the story of illegal levels of PCBs in school caulking, the department formalized a protocol for monthly inspections in all school buildings, requiring custodians to report any cracks or damages they find. "It's certainly more vigilant guidelines than we had before," Deputy Chancellor Kathleen Grimm told members of the Education, Environmental Protection and Oversight committees at emergency joint hearings at City Hall yesterday.
The new policy is similar to inspections called for by Environmental Protection Committee Chairman James Gennaro the day after the story broke. While he was pleased to see the Education Department take heed, Gennaro said he was disappointed the city still has no plan to test caulk for PCBs or to remove the illegal caulk already found.
Oversight Committee Chairman Eric Gioia agreed, likening the department's resistance to testing to "a sick guy who's afraid to go to the doctor because he doesn't want to find out how sick he is."
Earlier, a representative from the Environmental Protection Agency, George Pavlou, confirmed that the city is obligated to remove caulk with PCB levels like that The News discovered."
Randi Weingarten, president of the United Federation of Teachers, presented a plan for dealing with the problem, including incorporating the cost of PCB-caulk removal into the capital plan. Many parents from the schools tested by The News also testified about their concerns and complained about what they saw as stonewalling by the Education Department.
by Joseph Mugivan
Advocate for School Indoor Air Quality
j.mugivan@att.net
Testimony to the New York City Council
Re: PCBs in Schools
April 29, 2008
My concern before your committees involves the unwillingness of those in authority to investigate toxic situations in schools and the unwritten policy of indicating that a school is safe, without appropriate independent monitoring.
In the recent PCB reports published in the New York Daily News, there seems to be a code of silence and an urgency to report that a school is safe prematurely, when federal law indicates that no exposure to PCBs is permitted.
In October of 2003, five years ago, I walked out of my classroom in Elmhurst, Queens because there were toxic fumes or vapors which were making me sick. The teacher in the classroom before me reported a similar event. We both had medical records requesting an inspection.
Initially, I thought of informing the parents, then, realized that without a reliable report the school would indicate that the classroom was safe. Despite being protected under Federal Occupational Safety and Health Laws (OSHA), my salary was discontinued.
I discovered that a toxic spill had been reported at the print factory next to my school three months before entering the school. The spill consisted of thee carcinogenic chemicals, but more disturbing was the report that the local water table had extreme levels of dangerous chlorinated solvents known as TLC.
I obtained all of the engineering reports that indicated that ground water was entering the basement throughout and that all of the compressors of the ventilation system were supposed to have been replaced in 2003.
There was no public alarm
Since vapor intrusion above a water table can be up to 100 times more dangerous than simple toxic exposure, I wrote a letter to the lead state agencies on vapor intrusion asking for an inspection suspecting a possible health crisis in the school.
I have yet to receive a response from my letter of December 6, 2007
The new capital budget for PS 7 in Elmhurst, Queens calls for repairing the foundation and groundwater intrusion into the basement. A recent posting of the job number by a real estate web site places the cost at 8 million dollars. After five years no one has been able to provide an air quality report for my suspicion of vapor intrusion.
In the Queens court, my attorney requested, through discovery, all environmental information more than a year ago and the city has refused to provide it. I filed an OSHA request, under Federal law to the Department of Education for all Environmental reports on the school, and the Federal law was ignored. The city council called for a review of my concerns with the Department of Education and it was ignored.
In closing, without reliable and independent air quality reports, I am concerned that generations of elementary children in their formative years may be spending their waking hours sitting in a cloud of toxins with no independent monitoring. I believe that the state should monitor all schools for health reasons as well as for the academic requirements that are currently mandated.
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— Bill Egbert with additional information by Joseph Mugivan
Daily News
2008-04-30
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
Pages: 380
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