Lawyers want school toxins tested before first day

The Department of Education waited two decades to test the Bronx New School, PS 51 and ultimately found unacceptably high levels of the carcinogenic chemical trichloroethylene in the building’s air and surrounding soil. Now, politicians and environmental advocates are trying to make sure this never happens again. 

In an incisive letter to Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott, representatives from the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, the New York Communities for Change and the City Council have asked the DOE to test all 31 of its untested leased sites, including the High School of American Studies at Lehman College, before school starts. 

Although it is DOE policy to conduct an environmental review of all newly built school sites, testing is not done at leased buildings until the lease comes up for renewal. This procedure was instituted in 2003 under Mayor Michael Bloomberg. 

The letter calls this practice “seriously deficient” and states that DOE officials showed a “shocking disregard” for occupant safety when they waited six months to inform PS 51 families that the building was contaminated. The DOE confirmed the presence of trichloroethylene, or TCE, in February but did not notify school staff and families until August. 

TCE is an industrial solvent that can enter air or water. TCE exposure can result in dizziness, headaches, confusion, euphoria, facial numbness, weakness, developmental issues and cancer, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 

In addition to environmental reviews, the letter demands that the DOE release all of its documents related to the 65 leased school sites it has tested since 2003. 

At a PS 51 parent meeting last month, Mr. Walcott apologized and said the department would test all of its untested leased sites, although it is unclear if this policy has been put in writing. DOE spokeswoman Marge Feinberg said the new test results would be in by the end of September but would not disclose which schools, if any, have been tested so far.