From Gotham Gazette:A little over two years ago, a construction project at P.S. 53 in Staten Island resulted in so much dust that a fresh layer would have to be wiped away each morning. That dust contained toxic PCBs. The chemical was discovered only because the mother of an asthmatic boy attending the school had it privately tested. The city says it also tested there but only found PCBs in the soil outside.
The city has known for over two years that the hazardous chemicals were present in dozens of schools. Hundreds more are thought likely to be contaminated. Now, as the city wraps up preliminary testing and remediation of PCBs in three schools, advocates, parents and elected officials have launched a campaign to put some fire under the heels of an administration that they see as slow to act.
Those concerned want the department to immediately begin studying the problem citywide and speed up the removal of chemicals in schools known to be affected. With the city reportedly estimating cleanup could cost $1 billion, the education department says that it still does not understand the problem fully. It contends that addressing the issue on a citywide level before the pilot program is finished next year would be inefficient and unnecessarily disruptive to students. But some charge that the city really is concerned about the money.
7 comments:
This is one of many problems going on at the DOE and other City buildings. What worries me is that where there are children they are even more lax. Take for example the Bed Bug epidemic, there is not a school in Astoria, LIC, Corona, and or Jackson Heights, that is not infested. Yet The Health department requires the Principal to catch the bugs, put them in a bag label them, and send them in for verification. Once they are authenticated months later, an exterminator comes in, and to this day no one knows exactly what they do. PCBs , are all over every school that has had some sort of work done, and Asbestos, is all over and let us not kid ourselves, IT IS AIRBORNE. Yet they do nothing about it, no one cares about the children as they claim, it is not about the children , it is much more sinister and bigger than that. PEOPLE WAKE UP START DOING WHAT THIS MOTHER DID, SPEAK UP, SEND IT IN TO PRIVATE LABS, HOLD THESE SOBS TO THE FIRE.
THE ONLY PEOPLE THAT REALLY CARE ABOUT THE CHILDREN ARE THE ONES THAT ACTUALY INTERACT WITH THEM ON A DAILY BASIS.YES LADIES AND GENTELMEN, THE VILLIFIED TEACHERS, SCHOOL AIDES, ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS ALL THE WAY UP TO PRINCIPALS.
What---me worry?
Wait ten years. The Maspeth High School is a contaminated site, yet the DOE is building it anyway. The community didn't want the High School because there are two schools within a 5-block radius and the area is already congested. A study was done and soil was tested by an independent company and it came back contaminated, but the DOE doesn't care. Send your kids to medical school and make sure they specialize in oncology. The cancer rate in the Maspeth HS as well as all the other schools in Queens will skyrocket. This is all because of the love of the almighty buck. The city officials, politicians, DOE and the mayor don't care about your children. They only care about their developer friends and money.
When the masses get fed up and can no longer jump from job to job to make ends meet a revolt will ensue.
The time is coming and will soon be here. The working class have had enought and will soon come to arms.
I say have the students pay for the cleanup since they are attending a contaminated school and now the city has to clean it up.
It's always about the money...
Sounds like a job for Cathy Black.
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