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