Last Thursday night Chancellor Dennis Walcott faced his first major problem, how to handle the Trichoroethylene (TCE) crisis at P.S. 51 better known as the Bronx New School. P.S. 51 opened in 1992 under then School District 10 Superintendent Irma Zardoya. This was a new experimental school of choice open to all children of the district. A lottery was held to make sure that all ethnic groups were represented equally, and the school did very well academically. There were the usual problems of children getting sick, and everyone thought that was normal until last Thursday night.
Chancellor Walcott informed current P.S. 51 parents that their children would not be attending P.S. 51 in September due to tests that were done in January, February, and in March which revealed high levels of TCE in the school building that can not be remedied by the start of the new school year. He said that the DOE has tried to air out the building, but high levels of TCE remain in the building. The level of TCE in the basement ranged from 310 to 607 micrograms per cubic meter to 1,7 to 5.3 on the first floor, and up to 4.4 on the roof of the building. The New York State Department of Health guidelines is under 5 micrograms per cubic meter. There was a fact sheet handed out that claimed 0.5 to 4.2 MG per CM is typical indoor air levels of TCE, and the handout stated “This fact sheet will be updated as new information becomes available”.
TCE is widely used in products such as: metal degreasers, paint strippers, paint, varnish, glue, spot removers, adhesives, auto cleaning products, rug cleaning fluids, and in combination with other chemicals. The building that housed P.S. 51 once was a garage and factory before becoming a school building. The building next to P.S. 51 is a garage and a gas station, across the street was the old DEP chlorine storage building, MTA subway yards, and the #4 subway line runs above Jerome Avenue next to the school building.
Chancellor Walcott apologized to the parents and then introduced the many people from the DOE, Department of Health, and School Construction Authority present saying that any questions that the parents have will be answered tonight. He continued that as the lease of the building has come up for renewal the DOE did some air tests, and then some more when the first and second came back with levels above acceptability. Walcott added that over the summer the DOE tried to remediate the high levels of TCE by airing out the building with high power fans, but the TCE was continuing to come in through the cracks in the building. He said that since the building could not be used for the opening of the new school year that the DOE had found another site only two miles away known as the St. Martin of Tours Catholic school that had been closed by the Archdiocese. Walcott then said that the silver lining is that this site has a gym that P.S. 51 did not have, and that there would be no other school in the building. Later in the meeting did Walcott give the exact location of the school on East 182nd Street and Crotona Ave. at the edge of District 10. The chancellor said of the 65 leased buildings inspected by the DOE that only P.S. 51 had a problem, which drew little comfort from those present.
Then the questions from the parents started. One parent complained that his child came home with headaches, and yelled at the chancellor “that the DOE didn't care, and that all the children should be checked out to make sure they do not have any illnesses”. Chancellor Walcott passed this over to Dr. Nathan Graber (a pediatrician with the DOH) who said that the city is working with the state to see if there are any long term effects. Dr. Graber advised to check with the child’s health care provider. More parents asked questions as to why the building was not closed after the first test came back high in January, and the chancellor said that it appeared to be a false reading and the DOE wanted to do more tests to be sure. There was then a call for a database of all students and staff that were in the P.S. 51 building, which got an answer from Dr. Graber and silence by the chancellor.
Parents of former P.S. 51 students then came forward to say that many of their children now have unusual health problems with no family history of such problems. One mother said that her child who attended P.S. 51 in 1995 thru 1997 who is now 27 years old has cysts on her ovaries. One person mentioned a nine year old student and her teacher at P.S. 51 who recently died of cancer. Parent after parent of current and former students of P.S. 51 spoke of health concerns their children are now having, and wanted to know why these tests were not done when the building was opened. The chancellor said That these tests are done when leases are renewed, and “we do not know about the past, but we are concerned about the current students of P.S. 51, which angered most of the hundreds in the auditorium.
In the audience were State Senator Gustavo Rivera, representatives of Congressman Eliot Engel, Councilman G. Oliver Koppell, and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.'s office, who all watched in amazement, and could not comment on what they had just witnessed.
Parents came with questions and concerns, but got few answers, even less assurances, and after checking with their child's health care provider may want to seek legal advice.
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