RSS Feed
|
|||||
|
Kruger Calls For PCB Testing In City Schools
A recent investigation found PCBs in the caulking around windowsills and doorframes at eight of nine city schools randomly tested. Of these, six contained PCB levels well above what federal regulators deem acceptable. Kruger, Chair of the Senate Committee on Social Services, Children and Families held his news conference outside Public School 312 in Bergen Beach, one of the Brooklyn schools built between 1960 and 1977 - the years PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) were used in the caulking around windowsills and door frames. He was joined by PS 312 Parents Association President Christine Kroening, I.S. 78 Parents Association President Jack Falzone and Community Board 18 District Manager Dorothy Turano. "The city refuses to accept responsibility for exposing children to a chemical that has been banned since 1977 - a chemical that has been linked to cancer, asthma and developmental problems," Kruger said. "That's why we need the state to step in with legislation mandating that all PCB-laced caulking is tested, removed and replaced with an environmentally safe material." The senator said the city "has an obligation to dispense with the normal, lengthy bidding process and allocate emergency funds - no different than the one million dollars the Mayor just allocated to fix the slippery sidewalks around City Hall." The city has already said it will not conduct any "preemptive testing" for PCB contamination, a fact that Sen. Kruger finds particularly galling. Brooklyn has the most schools of any borough (88), Kruger pointed out, that were constructed in the years PCBs were used in caulking. He noted that in addition to the Bergen Beach elementary school, Roy H. Mann I.S. 78, just two blocks away, was also on the list of possibly contaminated schools. According to the website www.pcbinschools.org, whose founder first brought the issue to light in 2005 after his son's school was found to be contaminated with PCBs, they can leak out of the caulking and contaminate classroom air and outside soil. In a Health Department fact sheet, it reads: "Parents and teachers may be understandably concerned because exposure to high levels of PCBs can pose serious health risks. But the presence of PCBs does not always indicate a health hazard. PCBs in intact building materials do not result in significant exposure, and they are unlikely to cause health effects." According to Kruger, the Web site reports studies have found elevated blood levels of low chlorinated PCBs in children and teachers attending schools with PCBs in the window caulking. "What are they waiting for?" Sen. Kruger wondered. "If you can avoid a proven health risk, why not avoid it?" For more information, the DOE and Health Department suggest calling 311 to be directed to the proper officials.
|
for larger version       |
||||
)
