PCBs in Schools

BRIDGEPORT, CT -- The city is prepared to have ventilators in every Columbus School room taken apart and cleaned, and then test every classroom to make sure it is PCB-free. The decision late last week by the city's School Building Committee comes after the latest round of testing, received Thursday, still shows levels of polychlorinated biphenyls in some air samples higher than the federal Environmental Protection Agency says is safe for young children. Ray Wiley, an official from O&G, the city's school project manager, said he did not yet have the test results in hand but characterized them as "no worse" than three previous tests conducted randomly throughout the school. Attempts to obtain copies of the report Friday were unsuccessful. The building committee, made up of city and school officials, agreed unanimously to go to the City Council and ask for $253,000 to take apart, clean and reassemble the vents, along with the costs for testing done to date, and another $19,250 to air test all 35 rooms in the school. Officials haven't decided what to do about the thousands of boxes of supplies stored at the school during the renovation or moved in on the first day of school. Testing each one could cost the city $1.1 million. Decontaminating them and their contents would run about $125,000. Complicating the issue is that the budget for the project has run dry, necessitating the return to the city for money. While the cost of the process may eventually be charged back to the contractors or subcontractors, City Attorney Mark Anastasi said the city must foot the bill upfront. PCBs were discovered two years into a protracted three-year code update at Columbus when it was decided to add window replacement to the project. Window caulk was found to contain PCBs, which, under relatively new EPA regulations, must be removed. Wiley said the failed air tests come after several "wholehearted" cleanings of rooms and vents. A test that occurred when vents were turned off is the only one to come back clean. The next step is to take the ventilation units off the walls, clean and reinstall them. Robert Trefry, the school board's new chairman, told the committee at its Thursday meeting he doesn't want to put a child in a room if there isn't certainty it is safe. "I think if the test came back negative, we wouldn't be having this discussion, but there seems like a lingering thing in the air. That has people very concerned. It hasn't gone away," Trefry said. He got no argument. There was discussion, however, about the boxes, none of which have tested positive for PCBs in random testing. Some wondered if cleaning them all, and testing a sample, might be sufficient, if all test negative. City Councilman Robert Curwen Jr. wondered if the school supplies and books in the boxes are worth the money it would cost to test them. Assistant Schools Superintendent Robert Henry promised to get back to the group with an idea of the value. Officials also have no idea how soon Columbus students can move back to the school. They are scattered between five sites, in settings some describe as less than ideal. Mayor Bill Finch, who was not at the meeting, weighed in on the situation via a written statement. In it, Finch said he is outraged with the situation and shares the frustration of Columbus School parents. "We were assured by construction manager O&G that the school would open on time, and I have made it clear that this delay due to contractor error is unacceptable," he said.