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.