A day of citywide action - A day with NYCC, elected officials, UFT reps, 32BJ, LIUNA Local 78!

Sometimes working on a campaign can be a little surreal. When you are back in the office doing background reading, making calls and fielding emails – there’s some distance. The campaign can feel like a series of tasks, things to check off my “to-do list”. But a day out in the streets brings things roaring back into perspective.


On Tuesday, October 26th, I stood with elected officials and organizers from New York Communities for Change getting petition signatures and talking to parents about potential PCB-contamination in their children’s schools. As I explained the PCBs problem to parent after parent, I was surprised to learn that many of them were unaware of the issue. Once they got it, though, they were really perplexed. Why would the City put their children in harm’s way? They all asked good questions and most wanted to know why they weren’t aware of what was going on. Why weren’t more people in the NYC Public School community told about the pilot study? Why wasn’t there more education and outreach coming from the City about something that could be so harmful to their kids? All good questions, all things we are trying to make happen. And, yes, they want testing. They want testing now. Something else we want to make happen.

Be sure to take a look at the Interactive Map

Test Our Schools-- A Citywide Day of Action

PCBs Press Conference Tomorrow!!!

WHEN: Thursday, October 7, 2010 at 12 P.M

WHERE:  In front of City Hall
                    260 Broadway
                   New York, NY


Press Conference Outside City Hall to Demand Action on Removing Toxic PCB Chemicals from Public School Classrooms

Activists and elected officials demand that the Department of Education and the EPA take immediate action to test and clean up NYC classrooms

WHAT: PCBs – chemicals which have been proven to pose serious risks to children’s nervous and immune systems and to hamper brain development – are currently found in products like window caulk and lighting fixtures in public schools across New York City. Recent results from a pilot study conducted by the NYC Department of Education and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found significantly elevated levels of PCBs in two of three schools tested, with levels at the third also above guidances, putting thousands of kids at risk. There is every reason to believe that many schools built or renovated between 1950 and the late 1970s will be similarly contaminated.

This Thursday, October 7, at 12:00 P.M., New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, a civil rights law firm that has been deeply involved in community efforts to rid New York City schools of PCBs, will join other leaders on this issue, including Congressman Jerrold Nadler and other elected officials, labor and community organizations, school employees, and parents, to hold a press conference outside of City Hall calling on the Department of Education and the EPA to test all schools built in the relevant timeframe and bring air levels at all contaminated schools within guidance levels immediately.

Confirmed speakers include:

Congressman Jerrold Nadler, United States House of Representatives

Congressman Joseph Crowley, United States House of Representatives

Congressman José Serrano, United States House of Representatives

Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, New York State Assembly

New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio

Albert Rodriguez, General Counsel, Office of the Bronx Borough President

Miranda Massie, Litigation Director at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest

Regina Castro, New York Communities for Change

Michael Mulgrew, President, United Federation of Teachers

Representatives from SEIU 32BJ and the New York State Laborers’ Union

Parents

September 1st Press Conference

We'd like to thank everyone who was able to come out and make the press event such a success and also thanks to all for your effort and hard work. Here are links to some of the coverage we received:

Parents, Officials Demand City Checks Schools for PCBs

Parents and pols urge city for PCB testing at 740 schools across New York

Group Calls on DOE to Expand PCB Testing at City Schools

NYLPI’s and the PCB-Free NYC Schools Coalition’s final written submission to the EPA

Here is NYLPI’s and the PCB-Free NYC Schools Coalition’s final written submission to the EPA regarding the proposed rule that would lower some regulatory protections for PCBs. It was delivered on Friday, August 20th, 2010. Many thanks to the folks who attended hearings, participated in strategy sessions and contributed to the drafting of the document. There’s also an impressive list of supporting organizations on the signer’s page and it shows that there’s a growing community of committed advocates, parents and experts working to protect our environmental health. To learn more, please contact Gigi Gazon at ggazon@nylpi.org

*Note* Refer to our post from August 4, 2010: http://pcbfree.blogspot.com/2010/08/what-happened-at-epa-hearing.html#more

August 20, 2010


Document Control Office (7407M)
Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT)
Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20460


Re: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking on PCB use authorizations

Docket No. EPA-HQ-OPPT-2009-0757
Dear Madam/Sir:
For two years and several months, New York City (NYC) has been home to a series of community efforts to rid schools of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and in particular of the PCBs found in caulk. A Bronx coalition of concerned parents, the NYC Coalition for PCB-Free Schools, together with parents, school maintenance workers, teachers, and community members from across the metro area, has worked with environmental justice, environmental, and labor organizations, staff members at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and elected officials to advocate for action on this emerging public health threat. This firm has partnered with the coalition in these efforts and represented one of its members in litigation over PCBs in her daughter’s Bronx elementary school. We now submit these comments in response to the advance notice captioned above on behalf of the coalition and other organizations and individuals profoundly troubled by EPA’s current proposal to weaken or eliminate its regulations pertaining to PCBs in caulk and other non-liquid products. We strongly urge EPA not to take this large step in the wrong direction. PCBs in caulk pose a significant threat to children’s health and demand more regulation and enforcement, not less.

NY1 on PCBs

This clip features Gigi Gazon, Community Organizer for New York Lawyers to the Public Interest. Gigi provides technical and organizing assistance to the NYC PCB-free Schools Coalition.

Higher Than Accepted Levels of PCBs Found in Three City Schools

Elevated PCB Levels in Schools

Yesterday, the New York Times published this article:Tests Find Elevated PCB Levels in 3 Public Schools. . .
What are your thoughts?

Staten Island Live on PCBs

Staten Island Live is keeping up to date on the PCBs matter!! Here are two articles to check out:

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/08/pcb_threat_lurks_in_schools.html

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/08/doe_says_8_schools_were_cleare.html

What are your thoughts? Comments?

What happened at the EPA hearing?

Parents turned out in force on July 29th at the Hilton Times Square to bring the EPA a strong message about PCB-contaminated caulk. It struck me that the middle of a street filled with promises of frivolous entertainment was an unlikely place to witness what turned out to be a serious and passionate public meeting (to learn more about what this public meeting was for, please see the previous post, below). In attendance were parents, teachers and advocates representing the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Staten Island. Here’s a smattering of highlights as seen from my seat in the middle row:

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING - EPA considers weakening regulations that will protect children’s environmental health

When: July 29, 2010
Where: Empire Room at Hilton Times Square
234 W 42nd St., NY, NY 10035
Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Who should be heard?
Parents of children in NYC public schools, Teachers, School Custodians
and other Maintenance Staff, Environmental Justice Advocates, Environmentalists, Environmental Experts, and Concerned Citizens.

Why?
Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) are highly toxic compounds that were banned in 1978.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering weakening the regulations for PCB contaminated caulk with the possibility of eliminating them altogether. Under the EPA’s current regulatory framework, PCBs at greater than 50 parts-per-million (ppm) “present an unreasonable risk of injury to health.” EPA also states that caulk containing more than 50 ppm PCBs “must be removed.”

PCBs in caulk pose a significant risk to human health, especially children’s
health.

Background:

More than 500 NYC public schools built in the time frame when PCBs were being added to caulk may contain illegal and potentially dangerous levels of PCBs.

The timing of the EPA’s decision to reassess its PCB regulations is highly inappropriate. It comes on the heels of a recent groundbreaking agreement entered into by the EPA and the NYC Department of Education (DOE) to carry out a pilot study designed to generate a citywide clean-up plan. This is an obvious attempt to avoid dealing with the potential costs of cleaning up PCB-contaminated caulk.

The financial cost of protecting human health is not an acceptable basis for refusing to confront the problem or for undermining efforts to come up with effective solutions.

WE NEED YOU TO MAKE YOUR VOICES HEARD AND ASK THE EPA TO MAINTAIN THE
CURRENT REGULATIONS!

EPA REQUIRES AN RSVP!
In order to attend or speak at the meeting (identified by docket ID number EPA-HQOPPT-2009-0757) PLEASE CALL OR EMAIL: John H. Smith, National Program Chemicals Division, Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Environmental Protection Agency at (202) 566-0512; e-mail address: smith.johnh@epa.gov.
More information can be found here: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-14522.htm

For more information about this issue please contact
Gigi Gazon (Community Organizer), ggazon@nylpi.org or
Miranda Massie (Sr. Staff Attorney), mmassie@nylpi.org
at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest. (212) 244-4664

EPA trying to ditch 50 PPM standard for caulk | Action required!

On May 4th, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be holding a hearing in an effort to lower the protections of the current regulatory threshold for PCB-contaminated caulk, with the possibility of eliminating the protections altogether. Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) are highly toxic compounds that were banned in 1978.

Scientific studies show that PCBs in caulk pose a significant risk to human health, especially children’s health. We need you to make your voices heard and ask the EPA to keep the current protections. If anything, according to new scientific evidence that is released almost daily, the current protections may not even be enough.

PCB-CONTAMINATED CAULK FOUND by the DEPARTMENT of EDUCATION in NYC SCHOOLS

See the attached chart

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 special 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. In other words, the fact that a school is absent from the chart does not mean it does not contain contaminated caulk. What the chart shows instead 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 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 (NYLPI) obtained the information in this chart through a Freedom of Information Law request. NYLPI is a non-profit civil rights organization that does environmental justice work throughout NYC. Together with concerned Bronx parents, we have formed a coalition called the Coalition for PCB-Free Schools. Our goal is to broaden the coalition into a city-wide group that can prevail upon the DOE to provide safe, PCB-free learning environments for all NYC children.

For more information, please contact Senior Staff Attorney Miranda Massie by email at mmassie@nylpi.org or by phone at 212/244-4664.

PLEASE FORWARD THE CHART TO PARENTS WHOSE CHILDREN MAY ATTEND THE SCHOOLS LISTED AND TO TEACHERS AND OTHER SCHOOL EMPLOYEES. THANK YOU.

City admits 19 schools toxic; no cleanup planned

City admits 19 schools toxic; no cleanup planned

This is ridiculous! The NYC Dept of Ed readily admits that these toxins are in our children's schools at levels well above federal limits. We have children and teachers going to schools full of toxic waste. Yet the DOE is doing nothing to remove the source of these toxins and is effectively thumbing its nose at federal regulations which dictate that the toxic waste be removed. Sure we are all strapped for money but the health of our children is well worth the cost to clean up our schools.

Toxic fight over schools in Bronx

Toxic fight over schools in Bronx

The legal battle over PCBs in New York City schools heats up with "more than a dozen parents and one prominent organization" signing on or expressing interest in joining a notice of intent to sue the city for not addressing the PSB problem in our children's schools.

Also, the "New York Lawyers for the Public Interest will host an informational meeting for parents at 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 24, at the United Methodist Church in Co-op City, 2350 Palmer Ave., at Hutchinson River Parkway E." I encourage everyone who cares about the well being of our children to attend.

Researchers show how PCBs may alter in utero, neonatal brain development

Researchers show how PCBs may alter in utero, neonatal brain development

As if we needed any more scientific data to prove how bad PCBs are for our youth, this report comes out detailing how PCBs alter the development of brain cells. A quote from one of the researchers:

"With these studies we have now shown - from the whole animal level to the molecular level - how PCBs alter the development and excitability of brain cells. And that could explain why PCBs are associated with higher rates of neurodevelopmental and behavioral disorders," said Pessah, who is also a researcher with the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute.

The science is clear - PCBs are bad for all people but especially for children.

EPA Hosts PCB Challenge Conference

04/02/2009: Conference to Raise Awareness of PCB Disclosure and Disposal

The EPA is hosting a conference in Philadelphia to discuss "the hazards of PCBs and failing PCB equipment; how firms may qualify for penalty mitigation; the benefits of voluntary disclosure; management and proper disposal methods; sustainability beyond PCBs; and partnering with EPA. EPA staff will be available for one-on-one sessions to assist participants in identifying opportunities for PCB reduction or elimination."

I think the NYC Dept of Ed should attend. They might get some useful info to help them clean up our schools.

The Associated Press: EPA reports uptick in some toxic chemicals in 2007

The Associated Press: EPA reports uptick in some toxic chemicals in 2007

I missed this report when it first came out. While overall toxins are down, PCBs are up 40 percent. Yes, 40 percent, even though they were banned in the 1970s. The EPA claims the jump is probably due to disposal of old equipment or clean up at industrial sites.

I thought there were strict guidelines for how to clean up and dispose of these toxins. Either they are not being followed, or they do not work to keep PCBs from getting into the environment. Either way, the system is broken and must be fixed.

Legislation: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and School Modernization

The stimulus bill appropriates funds for modernizing and renovating public school buildings. This is something that the NYC DoE should look into to help pay for cleaning up PCBs in our schools. We can not let money trump the health of our children.

EPA Names Priority Schools for Monitoring Toxic Outdoor Air Pollution

While none of the schools that the Daily News originally found to be contaminated with PCBs is on this list, this is an indication that the new EPA is moving in the right direction to protect out children.

Lawsuit press release

Below is the full text of the press release announcing the lawsuit.

Bronx Mother to sue over toxic caulk in NYC schools
Formal notice charges Department of Education, School Construction Authority, and Environmental Protection Agency with dangerous inaction on hazardous PCBs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York, NY, March 26, 2009 – Today at 5:30 p.m. at the headquarters of the NYC Department of Education (DOE) (52 Chambers Street), Naomi Gonzalez, a teacher’s aide, and New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI) will announce the filing of a formal notice of intent to sue the DOE and the School Construction Authority (SCA). Ms. Gonzalez’s children Devin (11) and Emelina (6) and other NYC parents will also attend.

The suit will allege that PS 178, the school attended by Devin and Emelina, contains window caulking that is severely contaminated with poly-chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in violation of federal law. The DOE and SCA have misrepresented the risks associated with toxic caulk and to date they and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have neglected to take action to rid the school of PCBs, forcing Ms. Gonzalez to file the notice of intent to sue.

“The Department of Education and the School Construction Authority have abdicated their responsibility to the parents and children of this city to provide a safe learning environment and to be clear and candid about the serious risks posed by PCB-contaminated caulk,” said Miranda Massie, senior staff attorney for the Environmental Justice program at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest. “We hope that with the new Administration and this notice, the EPA will end its dangerous passivity on this issue. If not, we will bring suit to enforce the law ourselves.”

A state-certified laboratory found that a caulk sample from PS 178 contained over 100,000 parts per million (ppm) PCBs – more than 2,000 times the 50 ppm limit above which the EPA has determined that PCBs categorically “present an unreasonable risk of injury to health within the United States.” A pending state bill would mandate PCB testing in NYC schools, and New York City parents and the City Council have called on the DOE and SCA to test the caulk in window frames, door frames and expansion joints of potentially contaminated city schools and to remove contaminated caulk. However, no action has been taken by either agency.

“This is about the health of my children, our children. My kids go to school every day in a building that could make it harder for them to learn and make them sick. I’m furious that the DOE knows this and has done nothing. I shouldn’t be afraid to send my children to school,” said Ms. Gonzalez, who lives with Devin, Emelina, and her husband in Co-op City.

“It is outrageous that schools in New York have not taken necessary precautions to prevent student exposure to PCBs,” said Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal (D/WF- Manhattan). "Despite repeated requests for comprehensive testing, DOE and DHMH have refused to address this issue at all potential contamination sites. My legislation will require school districts to investigate and report on the status of PCBs in schools constructed or renovated prior to 1977. It will also require schools to follow published protocols for addressing PCBs during school renovations. It is my sincere hope that this issue can be resolved quickly in order to protect children from further exposure to these dangerous toxins.”

PCBs are severely poisonous. They threaten the integrity of major body systems, including the immune system, the endocrine system, and the neurological system, and they are considered a probable human carcinogen. PCBs are developmental toxins that disproportionately affect children. PCBs in caulk volatilize into air and migrate into soil, brick, and mortar, exposing children and employees to significant health risks.

PCBs were banned in 1978 by Congress in the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The law is to be enforced by the EPA, which promulgated regulations for the management and disposal of PCBs. .

Under the Bloomberg Administration there has been a centralization of power for making and implementing education policy. In 2002, changes in the school governance law gave the Mayor the authority to appoint all three Trustees of the SCA, including the School's Chancellor who serves as the SCA Chair, and the management of the Department of Education's Capital Program was consolidated under one agency, the SCA. Opponents of Mayoral Control allege that the consolidation of power has frozen out independent neighborhood voices like Naomi Gonzalez’s and stymied efforts of parents to provide feedback in their children’s school environment forcing them into the court system.

About New York Lawyers for the Public Interest
New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI) is a nonprofit civil rights law firm that works with communities to advocate for social justice through community organizing, litigation, policy advocacy and public education. NYLPI’s Environmental Justice program works with communities currently and potentially impacted by environmental harms such as toxic sites, environmentally unsafe schools and other noxious facilities to address threats to their health and safety and advocate for positive development. NYLPI also has expertise in health justice, and disability rights as well as coordinating an expansive network of volunteers from New York’s top law firms and corporate legal departments to provide pro bono legal assistance to nonprofit organizations and individuals in need.
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