Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were widely used in construction until 1979, when they were found to be toxic and banned. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) inspected five New York City schools as part of a pilot project and found PCBs in some of the light fixtures and window caulking.
The city is delaying cleanup and replacement of the PCB-containing particles. The Bloomberg administration wants to wait until the pilot project is complete and develop plans to abate the PCBs after more data is collected. Cleanup costs have been estimated as high as $1 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Representatives Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.), José E. Serrano (D-N.Y.), and Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) proposed the Safe Schools, Healthy Kids Act earlier this week. The legislation would stream federal funds into districts that take action to clean up their PCB-laden schools. It would also call on the EPA to take a leading role in guiding this work and require notification of affected school communities when such work is undertaken.
“I believe that it is essential that the EPA and the federal government now take a leadership role,” Nadler said in a press release. “Lack of funding or bureaucratic delay must never be justifications for failing to protect our schoolchildren.”
The city is delaying cleanup and replacement of the PCB-containing particles. The Bloomberg administration wants to wait until the pilot project is complete and develop plans to abate the PCBs after more data is collected. Cleanup costs have been estimated as high as $1 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Representatives Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.), José E. Serrano (D-N.Y.), and Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) proposed the Safe Schools, Healthy Kids Act earlier this week. The legislation would stream federal funds into districts that take action to clean up their PCB-laden schools. It would also call on the EPA to take a leading role in guiding this work and require notification of affected school communities when such work is undertaken.
“I believe that it is essential that the EPA and the federal government now take a leadership role,” Nadler said in a press release. “Lack of funding or bureaucratic delay must never be justifications for failing to protect our schoolchildren.”
