![]() ![]() ![]() Any plans have to be approved by the state in order to assure reimbursement, he said.Yeah, I don't know about washing carbon. Haas said that the school, while very hopeful the carbon units will help reduce the PCB airborne levels, is planning for other contingencies "a Plan B, a Plan C and a Plan D."įor instance, he said, "we need a place to host events," and one possibility is a temporary field house. O'Ryan and others are pinning their hopes of a quick fix to a lot of the immediate PCB problem by the carbon filtration units, which have proved to be effective in that direction for other Vermont schools, according to state environmental officials, but with the caveat that none of the other schools were 'open-concept' like BFUHS. Many areas of the school were not tested and work is just beginning on finding out what at the school is emitting the PCBs. The state had tested about 55 different areas of the open-concept high school, which opened in 1971, and of those areas, about 40 had elevated levels of the toxic chemicals, which were contained in building materials such as caulking, paint and adhesives. While we remain very hopeful about the impact of that work, we are also continuing to build contingency plans for occupancy beginning in November if needed," she said. "Our current plan is to keep the tents operational through the end of October to align with the completion of our initial mitigation work through the carbon filters and secondary air samples. O'Ryan said that to date all costs associated with the mitigation work, specifically the tent rentals and carbon filtration units, have been approved for reimbursement by the Department of Environmental Conservation to the Agency of Education, which holds the funds. The source investigation will help determine next action steps for remediation. ![]() This will include additional testing of spaces within the gym and auditorium in particular. Once the interim mitigation work has been completed, school officials will begin source investigation work in the building. Based on data from other schools who use these units, we remain very optimistic that the units will make a quick impact on air quality and hopefully bring those primary academic spaces back down under the school action level," she said. "Once all units have been installed and running for a week, a secondary air sample analysis will be conducted. As additional shipments arrive, hopefully over the coming week, we will continue to deploy throughout the remaining spaces in the building at the school action level (SAL)," O'Ryan wrote in her newsletter to the school community. These have been deployed in areas of the primary academic wing (D wing) with the highest concentration of PCBs. "We have received and installed our first round of carbon filtration units. Those areas include several classrooms, the library, hallways, some bathrooms, and the art, music, band and family and consumer science classrooms. Other areas have elevated PCB levels over 100 nanograms, but not as high as the 300 nanogram per cubic meter level that calls for immediate restrictions. The two areas with the highest levels, the gymnasium (850 nanograms) and the adjoining auditorium and stage (380 and 470), have been restricted completely from use and the carbon filter units are not expected to be effective in those areas. He said the state had already contracted with a carbon-filter vendor, and that is where the BFUHS units were coming from.Īccording to state standards, any part of the building that tests higher than 100 nanograms per cubic meter must have limited student and staff exposure. "They are made to specifications, not pulled off the shelf like a HEPA filter at Home Depot," he said. He said the units look like the Star Wars character R2-D2, and are round and about two feet tall. He said the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation had specific requirements for the units, and that those special filters had to be added. Haas said Thursday that the filtration units are custom made for the school, which added to the time it took to get the units delivered. BFUHS Principal Kelly O'Ryan, in a community letter, said the first round of carbon filtration units had been installed in the academic wing of the school, in those areas with higher "action" levels for PCBs, and as more units arrive, they will be deployed in other areas of the school. ![]()
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