| PCB-CONTAMINATED CAULK FOUND in DOZENS of NYC SCHOOLS by the DEPARTMENT of EDUCATION |
PLEASE JOIN THE NYC COALITION FOR PCB-FREE SCHOOLS!
We are parents, school employees, and community members concerned about the risks posed by PCBs in schools. We are working with New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (a non-profit civil rights organization).
We have formed a coalition to get NYC schools tested and cleaned up and to make sure that parents have a meaningful voice in the Department of Education’s decision-making on this issue. All NYC children deserve a PCB-free learning environment.
To join the coalition or with any questions not answered below, please contact:
Senior Staff Attorney Miranda Massie at mmassie@nylpi.org
or
Community Organizer Gigi Gazón at ggazon@nylpi.org
Both can be reached at: 212/244-4664.
PLEASE FORWARD this information widely, including to parents whose children attend any of the schools listed and to school employees.
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The attached chart is also available at the following links:
http://pcbfree.blogspot.com/
PCB-Contaminated Caulking in NYC Schools
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More information on the attached chart and PCBs in NYC schools:
The chart identifies NYC schools where the DOE found window caulk containing more than 50 parts per million (ppm) PCBs. PCBs are highly toxic compounds that were banned years ago but not removed from all sources, such as the caulking material surrounding windows and doors in some buildings. PCBs spontaneously enter the air and can be ingested through breathing. They pose particular health and developmental risks to children.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), PCBs at levels greater than 50 ppm “present an unreasonable risk of injury to health.” EPA also states that caulk containing more than 50 ppm PCBs “must be removed.” Many schools around NYC nevertheless continue to contain caulk that is contaminated, sometimes very severely, as seen in the chart.
The chart is not the result of a comprehensive survey of NYC schools. Therefore, the fact that a school is absent from the chart does not mean it does not contain contaminated caulk.
What the chart shows are results of some of the PCB tests that the DOE conducted before doing routine window renovation work in the period from April 2008 to September 2009 (the first date is when a state testing protocol started to be implemented and the second date is when a Freedom of Information Law request was submitted to the DOE). The caulk that was tested was slated to be removed and was in fact removed. However, the DOE only tested those windows subject to renovation in each school and it is highly likely that other windows and doors at these schools contain the same contaminated caulk.
New York Lawyers for the Public Interest made the Freedom of Information Law request. NYLPI is a non-profit civil rights organization that does environmental justice work throughout NYC.
For more information, please contact
Senior Staff Attorney Miranda Massie at
mmassie@nylpi.org
or
Community Organizer Gigi Gazón at ggazon@nylpi.org
They can both be reached by phone at 212/244-4664.
