By now you may have seen the response by Superintendent Roy and the folks from the "environmental" company, Hygenix. To quote one of the candidates from the New York Governors race, Jimmy Mcmillan, "I am tired of playing the silly game". For the superintendent to quote environmental levels without having any understanding of what they are is ludicrous and underscores one of the many problems with this project. They are in way over their heads and are playing guessing games with the lives of our children. Lets be clear about the Hygenex response. It is a smoke screen. This gentleman from Hygenex is the person at our initial meeting that was defending PCB's stating that "PCB's DO NOT CAUSE CANCER, THEY ARE SUSPECT AND MAY CAUSE CANCER". Is that why the DEP made the school cover window caulking and plan to remove the soil and brick masonry ? With regards to the comments about concrete being caustic and "NOT CARCINOGENIC" well, here is some factual information to clear some of the misinformed and misguided smoke screen..... Concrete contains chromium which is a KNOWN CARCINOGEN and that CAUSES CANCER. Well maybe not to Hygenix as some compounds "could" or "may" be harmful.
Hygenix ran a silica test which is a common compound in concrete and concrete dust. Ok, great. Now - that test was run because "we the people" expressed our concern. Shouldn't that be something that they figured out on their own? Why are "lay people" asking technical question and raising concern about the safety of our children, educators and yes, even Mr. G's wildlife? Based upon the response submitted by the Superintendent and Hygenix they are now deploying an additional level of vacuuming to further get rid of as much dust as they can. Well, the problem here is that they are doing that because they found elevated levels of dust - remember 3 times more dust in the areas under construction then the areas not under construction from the sample that they submitted to us. The only way to mitigate the problem with concrete dust is by keeping it wet. That is what is done in most construction environments to protect the workers from this toxic health hazard. With regard to the mold and hazardous fiber board on the ceiling the air samples with the equipment used (as told to me by the state health department) are not really sufficient. A bulk core sample would be a better indicator but quite honestly, you can see it with the naked eye and that does not require any credentials or certifications. In addition, while I bring up the state health department, I was also told that the silica test was a waste and that they (state health department) could have told me that it would have turned up nothing. There is a plethora of information with regard to the hazards to construction materials and safety precautions on line. The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) is an agency that has existed for many years as well as the Electronic Library of Construction of Occupational Safety and Health.
Finally, what you should be advised of is that the most stringent safety guidelines come from OSHA, in the state of California and UC Berkely. These levels that are quoted tend to come from OSHA guidelines that were developed in 1968 and are based upon healthy middle-aged men. I was told by the state health department that everyone knows that they are not applicable for children as the tolerances are or would be much lower.
Here are the immediate questions that we need answered;
- Why was the decision made to keep our children in harms way? There is room at Consolidated and there could have been a plan to relocate the children and seal off the area.
- How many children have developed asthma, cancer, serious respiratory or neurological disorders because of the callous, decisions made by companies like Hygenix?
- Why doesn't the school think it is important to protect children, the educators (and Mr. G's wildlife)?
- Why is it that nearly every other project for school renovation throughout the country moves the children out of harms way?
- Most importantly, when will our children be moved out of this environment?
- If the Environmental contractor does not feel that PCB's are cancer causing (or harmful) to our children, what other hazardous toxins do they feel is acceptable for our children to be exposed to?
Regards,
Steven Roe
Steven Roe, CEO
West Highland Support Services, LLC60 E. 42nd St.
Suite 401
New York, NY 10165
(0) 212 867 1848 x111
(C) 917 513 1871
West Highland Support Services, LLC60 E. 42nd St.
Suite 401
New York, NY 10165
(0) 212 867 1848 x111
(C) 917 513 1871
